Great idea

Rating: 5/10 (13 August 2014)

The Artist is an almost totally silent film made by Michel Hazanavicious starring Jean Dujardin, Berenice Bejo, John Goodman, James Cromwell & Penelope Ann Miller. Set in 1927 Hollywood as the Talkies are set to replace silent films. It chronicles the troubles of a great silent film star who doesn't want to be in talkies.
The first half of the film is all a movie-goer could want. It has outrageous expressions on the faces of the silent actors in place of dialogue. Quirky & fun camera angles plus cute little comedy scenes & the regulation lovable dog that is as well trained as any other actor on the set. The beginnings of a failed marriage (done in a hilarious manner) & a budding new romance follow suit.
It's the development of these that mystified both me & my wife. You'd figure that there was a concrete reason that our star (the artist) doesn't want to be in talkies as well as a reason that no one offers him a chance later. It takes the whole movie to find out this cannot be true. The motivations & goals of this budding romance are disjointed & unfocused even at the end. Was it romance, was it friendly concern, or was it just a coincidence that stuck like glue. There is a scene early-on that leaves no doubt about what is in the woman's mind but it plays no part later on.
The second half of the movie is the man's life on the skids surrounded by people concerned for his welfare. His alcoholism & self destructive behavior, which is agonizingly drawn out to the point of boredom & greatly overacted even for a silent, gives far too much time to see the ending coming, as well as wish you were somewhere else. The second half is as bad as the first half is good. The music, costuming, sets & cinematography are worth seeing though. It's easy to see tie-ins to Singing in the Rain & A Star is Born. Truth be told they probably should have used a better tie-in to A Star is Born but that would have led to a different & hopefully better ending. You never really get inside the guys head beyond mulish pride & you see that 5 mins into the show. It starts with a grin & ends with a grin, they even had a miniature Rin Tin Tin. For a truly great silent watch SUNRISE (1928)