Very, very close but no cigar

Rating: 9/10 (24 December 2012)

This film is better as a concept than it is in execution. Leaving the actors aside for the time being, what I liked most about it is the moment when stray sounds begin to be heard, heralding the arrival of the talkies, even though none of the on-screen characters is speaking audibly -- only in silent movie captions. It's a brilliant touch, leaving no doubt about what's happening outside the silent film framework. The plot is a cliché: the silent film star fades into obscurity, the obscure actress becomes an overnight sensation. However, the four stars are excellent. Four? Yes. Jean Dujardin as the silent film star, Berenice Bujo as the talkies meteor, John Goodman as the studio head, and the best dog actor I ever remember seeing. It remains to be seen whether Dujardin has a future in a speaking role. Ms. Bejo, a well-established French star, is sensational in this movie. John Goodman is a familiar figure and is outstandingly funny as the fickle movie-maker who abandons his silent film star to make talkies and later takes him back because Peppy Miller, Ms. Bejo's character, now a screen sensation, announces that she won't appear in his next movie without Dujardin as her co-star. The movie concludes with the best dancing scene -- Dujardin and Bejo side-by-side -- to grace the screen in a couple of decades. The two stars execute their routine with a skill that can't be faked (although it might have been filmed numerous times to assure that the coordination was flawless in the final print - - if that's still an appropriate term for what today's filmmakers actually produce). The choreography is superior to anything we've seen since the heydays of Ginger Rogers/Fred Astaire, Gene Kelly, Ray Bolger, Syd Charisse and their peers. I don't know if there's another role for the dog out there somewhere but he/she is a headliner in this movie. There's a major flaw in this film in my estimation. The down period, when the silent film star is experiencing a major depression and is ready to commit suicide even after Peppy Miller first comes to his rescue, lasts longer than it should to make the point. On the whole, however, The Artist is well worth seeing and deserves the prizes it won even if, as critics have noted, it's another occasion for Hollywood to celebrate itself as it has done many times in the past. I'll be looking for Ms. Bejo's French films and hoping that Hollywood will find roles for her as it has done in the past for other French, Italian and Spanish-speaking beauties. I also hope Mr. Dujardin will appear in further films that can make use of his unquestioned talents.