The Artist, directed by Michael Hazanavicius, 2012
SPANKY: John, you seemed to like this movie a lot more than I did. It started out well, then began to drag (except for the RCA Victor dog) only to pull around at the end. I think if we are judging a film on its worth, not on the meaning we can attribute to it or our personal film-going history, this one is, at best, an oddball that slipped into the Oscar mainstream because it ostensibly had something to do with the development of cinema.
2 Barks out of 4
JOHN: I saw this after the reviews were in and the film won “best picture,” but I think most people, including the Academy, missed its point. Sure the advent of talkies was a convenient metaphor, but this is about an artist who can’t communicate directly with the man on the street. An artist who doesn’t want the pity or support of those who can. And, literally, the French director lets us in the audience experience this silence. We feel this disappointment (that is the let-down in interest you complain about, Spanky). The solution, is not to give up, or become a crowd pleasing talker. He is an “Artist.” The answer is to adapt his art to the times and be new and fresh all over again. He and his love do this through tap dancing (with sound) and we feel the joy. We can’t dance, but he can for us.
In 2010r, a brilliant film that spoke to who we are and what our world has become, Social Network, was just a little too edgy for an Academy Award. This film succeeds because it is subtle and misleading. But its message is particularly meaningful for the floundering movie/television industry. And as a writer, I found it more real, more touching, more meaningful to me than any “entertainment” has been for a long, long time.
PS. Words on the page don’t talk either. Or do they?
4 GOs out of 4
Rosebud Reviews 
The point about George Valentin being an “artist” (thus the title) seems to be lost on many, even admirers, who focus on the love story (secondary) or George’s pride being the defining factor in his stubborn refusal to conform to a new talking form (missing the point). Bravo to you John (sorry Spanky) on seeing through the surface gloss and penetrating to the heart of the film.
Thanks, We complain about mindless films and then when one comes along that is thoughtful we treat it like all the others.