Full disclosure, I went into this movie looking for a reason to not believe the awards hype. This happens with a lot of movies (War Horse being the best example from this year) and I'm not stubborn in changing my mind. This movie was about what I expected though.
Cast
I'll be using this word a lot, but all the actors were very charming. I give them a lot of props for all the acting they had to do without words. That's a tough job to ask of anyone. Jean Dujardin has the look of a silent movie star. Berenice Bejo Does great supporting work. The rest of the cast of more familiar faces do well in limited use. The dog is the star though and deserves every Milk-Bone thrown his way.
Plot
Let's face it. The plot is pretty bare bones. Words allow more complexity. So, it goes in the exact arch you expect and there's nothing you haven't seen before. It's a charming little story that doesn't need to get beneath the surface. I did enjoy how the silent treatment forced them to really choose dialogue wisely.
Score
Poor John Williams. He does some of his finest work of his remarkably accomplished career on War Horse and then The Artist comes along and steals the show. For a movie like this to work, the score has to be something special and it delivers. It sounds authentic and carries the highs and lows of the story incredibly well.
Acting
This movie is going to [and has] gobble up a lot of awards and many of them for acting. There are two schools of thought here.
1) To effectively play a character, adding depth and complexity, without the use of words requires great skill. The actors are working on a handicap that are not present in other movies and still match up.
2) Acting requires a range of skills and taking the delivery of lines out of it doesn't allow the actors to be judged for as full a performance. Giving them so much recognition is like giving the MVP to a player that never plays any defense. If these actors get awards attention, shouldn't voice actors, or someone like Andy Serkis?
I lean toward the second camp. Both sides have merits.
The Dog
I'm going into amazing dog overload right now between watching Frasier Netflix and this movie. That's not a complaint.
End Thoughts
I'll admit, the movie drained me a bit. I enjoyed it, but it wouldn't make my top 10 list. It felt like more of an experiment than a fully realize movie. I loved the tap number at the end though.
Verdict (?): Weakly Recommend
Here are my thoughts on acting. There is a vast different in the type of acting required for silent vs. "talkies." It's why in the history of film, when sound was introduced, it changed the game, which is why most of the silent stars were out of work. What is required to give a good performance in a silent film is considered bad acting in sound. I think a win for anyone nominated from this film is well deserved, b/c it's reviving a different kind of acting not executed anymore. They essentially had to go against every acting sensibility they have and had been taught, which is impressive.
ReplyDeleteYou know my thoughts of the movie, overall though. A fun, charming experiment. But an unnecessary one. An enjoyable film, but not best picture worthy for this reason.