More sound, please!

Rating: 7/10 (21 January 2012)

I hate to be a party-pooper but for me this is not the greatest movie of recent times. Yes, it's charming, even beguiling - and it's got the most appealing dog in cinema history! - but it's kind of slow and kind of, dare I say, not very original. One man's "hommage" is another man's piracy: SINGIN' IN THE RAIN, A STAR IS BORN and SUNSET BOULEVARD are a bit too strongly "tributed". Berenice Bejo's Peppy has an androgynous quality that reminded me of Jack Lemmon's Daphne in SOME LIKE IT HOT!
The scene where George has a nightmare with actual sound is surprisingly disturbing, and it's easy to guess there will be another sound scene towards the end. For me the lack of dialogue - and the period Muzakal score - became more than a bit monotonous. It might have worked better if George's scenes had been the only silent ones, with Peppy's and the studio scenes having sound.
The acting - with its "hammy" evocation of the silent era - is brilliant, as is the direction and the cinematography. Uggie the tricksy Jack Russell is so cute you want to take him home with you - but I wish I liked the film more.