1) The Artist
I get that people could find a movie like The Artist overrated when it wins Best Picture and everything. It’s understandable. I also completely understand why someone who hasn’t seen it would think that it’s probably the dumbest, most pretentious piece of artsy-fartsy Oscar bait since The King’s Speech. You’ve got Hollywood history being told in a low-budget film featuring French talent (sacre bleu!) in effing black and white. All signs point to annoying, right?
These are all things I thought before I saw it, but then Jean Dujardin smiled at me. And damnit if I didn’t lose all sense in that moment. It’s like that moment in Ratatouille when the food critic tastes his meal and all of a sudden he’s a little boy who had fallen off his bike. Reality melts away and you’re left with a dumb grin on your face and all you can think about is why can’t everything be this happy all the time.
Oh, also there’s a dog who does tricks. And Dujardin’s character treats him like he’s a person. The goofy pantomime, the exaggerated expressions and silly sight gags end up making this potentially pretentious picture an absolute delight. If a movie like this can win over a heartless bastard like me, surely it can bring a smile to the face of the most hardcore cynic.
