Chick 1 says:

From its premiere at Cannes, The Artist has been getting rave reviews and whispers (now shouts) of Oscars have been following it around.  Time to check out this modern day silent movie.

The Basics:  Filmed in color and converted to black and white, the story follows a movie star on the top of his game in the silent era when the talkies threaten his career.

What I Liked:  The word to describe this film; charming.  From start to finish, it’s a delightful little story.  The two leads are likable and the story calls out to many classic or silent era movies.  The most obvious of these is Singing in the Rain, one of my all time favorites.  That alone is enough to win me over.  The story set-up is almost exactly the same and the star, Jean Dujardin, looks and even moves a bit like Gene Kelly.  (Not on the dance floor sadly but then who does?) I often felt compelled to yell out lines from Singing in the Rain during the movie.  (I restrained myself.)   The cast and director are obviously having a blast experimenting with silent film and honoring film heritage and they make you want to join in the party.

What I Didn’t Like: …it’s a silent movie.  I hate to sound like a spoiled uncultured 21st century brat but it did get a little boring and hammy as its 100 minute run time dragged on.  The telling sign for me – if I check my watch.  Bad news.  When I watch classic silent movies, I can put aside some things that might put me off like the overacting.  But for a modern silent film, they better find a way to tell a compelling story without dialogue and still capture the modern audience.  The filmmakers here fall a bit short.  Here’s my other beef; filming without audio is sooo much easier than filming with audio.  I get the challenge of telling a story without sound.  That requires some creativity.  But no audio lets you off the hook on so many other levels.  This story is fun but I just don’t get what all the Oscar fuss is over.  I think Hollywood has been bamboozled by an interesting gimmick and their own love of movies about movies.

Bottom Line:  Charming and innovative but not really Oscar material.  (I know. I know.  They’re probably gonna win.)