A little bit shallow and simplistic, but still a very enjoyable experience

Rating: 8/10 (7 February 2012)

The Artist looks ready to sweep the Oscars this year, and in many ways it deserves to. It has a unique (some may say gimmicky) style, can easily make an audience laugh and cry almost simultaneously, and has a certain likability and charm that is nearly impossible to deny. Despite perhaps seeming initially off-putting to some casual cinema-goers, The Artist is actually deceptively simple; it is a film that can be enjoyed by almost any individual, despite being silent, French-made, and in black and white. That is most likely its greatest strength- appealing to a wide audience of people who may feel as though they have just greatly expanded their boundaries of cinematic appreciation, when as a matter of fact, they have watched a relatively simple romance/character study/brief history lesson on the transition from silent films to talkies.
However, the film's simplicity is not a huge negative. It allows the film to be both likable and crowd-pleasing, and appeal to essentially anyone. That being said, I personally would've liked a little more complexity to the film- perhaps it could have fleshed out the main character some more, or provided more insight into just how dramatic the change from silent films to talkies was. Still, I respect the fact that this film is indeed a homage to a simpler time in cinema, so therefore its simplicity can be fairly easily excused. I definitely recommend this film to anyone who wants to see something that is in many ways unique, yet in many ways familiar...
VERDICT= 8/10 (Great)