The Artist

If nothing else, this is a cinematic high-wire act.

In many ways - in all ways - The Artist is a profound achievement.

The film's charm and delight of discovery, plus its sterling international performances, could make it a breakout hit in theaters.

Hazanavicius isn't just making a "silent movie," he is attempting to enter a time warp and craft something that would fool all but the most studious and scholarly into believing it could have been a lost film from a bygone era. If his tongue is sometimes a little in his cheek, that's all part of the fun.

The Artist plays around with the distinction between silent and sound cinema, resulting in the superficial entertainment value of a high concept film school joke. But it's a charming and supremely gorgeous joke -- sometimes too clever for its own good, other times not clever enough, and always at least an attractive diversion.

A fascinating experiment is about to happen, and who doesn't want to be part of a little fun? That rarest of birds - a b&w silent film - is set to swoop into multiplexes. Trust us, it won't bite.

The Artist neatly sidesteps this unsolvable dilemma by ignoring everything that's fascinating and memorable about the era, focusing instead on a patchwork of general knowledge, so eroded of inconvenient facts that it doesn't even qualify as a roman à clef.

The first word that popped into my head when I finished watching The Artist, was "Perfect". Everything about this film was so well done, so expertly crafted, that it should be used as a model for students looking to write, direct, act, etc in the film industry. Definitely ranks in my top five movies of all time.

The whole story's a little cheesy,and the doggie and its handler surely deserve more credits.

What a novel idea for a film, make it like they used to be. It wears thin soon but the acting is flawless while the story, well, you know it. The ending did hold a surprise and that's a plus. In summary, well done, kudos to all, it should be seen. Hopefully the critics have not gone gaga over it just because it is different and they are forced to see the 80% of films that are boring and usually a waste of time; but of course, that is their job.

[SPOILER ALERT: This review contains spoilers.]

An Oscar? So this is the best the movie industry did in 2011? Pleaaaaaseeee! I can go for an honorary mention because of the bravery of doing a silent movie on 2011. But saying this was the best movie done in 2011 is insulting all modern filmmakers. I'm the first to hate this era of the cinema where all that matters is doing 3D movies and superhero sequels. But if you don't go for the masses you still can find good movies. But this wasn't one of them. And the idea that it got the best movie award in so many places made me like it less... if possible.