Film review - The Artist

So I’ve finally seen The Artist, after all the hype and the Oscar wins, and I wasn’t blown away. Sure, it is nice and well made, and obviously has a central gimmick that makes it stand out from the crowd, but this is a feather-weight confection.

The film opens in 1927, and George Valentin (Jean Dujardin) is a silent movie star at the top of his game. He helps ingénue dancer Peppy Miller (Bérénice Bejo) get noticed by the studios. As silence gives way to the talkies, their careers take different paths.

Two things surprised me. Firstly, although this is a French-made film it is set in Hollywood and the silent lines are all spoken in English. This seems slightly strange considering every country had a silent film industry that had to adjust to sound, but I suppose it does make financial sense to set it in America. And you get to have people like John Goodman in it without making them mouth French lines. Secondly, it wasn’t as funny as I thought it would be. The dog was cute, and it was mildly amusing at times, but I was expecting more slapstick or something. There weren’t many laughs.

Having said that, Dujardin is excellent in the role. Bearing a more than passing resemblance to William Powell (who interestingly was one of the few silent film actors to have a successful career after the introduction of sound) he looks very much of the time and has such a hammy, expressive face. Bejo is all eyes and smile, and is adorable.

Basically, it could be 20 minutes shorter and a bit funnier. If you buy into the romance of the silent era, I’m sure you will love this. I, on the other hand, was a little bored, and really if I’m going to be a bit bored watching a silent film, I’d rather take my medicine and watch an actual old one. Obviously I don’t want to sit through Battleship Potemkin, but I know I ought to.

Film review - The Muppets

This new Muppets film is quite different from the Christmas Carol or Treasure Island adaptations we became used to in the nineties, wonderful though those were. It’s a post-modern take on the children’s film that also manages to go back to the group’s roots.

As the film opens, the Muppets have been largely forgotten by the public and have gone their separate ways – in this reality it seems as if The Muppets Show was their only success, and that finished in 1981. When an evil oil baron (Chris Cooper) threatens to take over their old theatre, they must put on a benefit show to stop him. Their biggest fans, Gary (Jason Segal, who also wrote the script), Mary (the wonderful Amy Adams) and Walter (a Fabricated American, to use the Greg the Bunny terminology), are ready to help.

This uber-hackneyed storyline – used in everything from The Blues Brothers to Breakin’ 2: Electric Boogaloo – is played openly as a cliche. It’s just a McGuffin for all the fun, and there is a lot of fun to be had. Movie tropes are skewered in surreal fashion, there are great cameos at every turn, and the songs are weird, joyous creations (from The Flight of the Conchords’ Bret McKenzie).

Adults who can remember The Muppets Show will be happy to see all the old gang back together again. And I mean “all”, as some quite minor characters are featured heavily. Sadly my first Muppet experience was Muppet Babies during Going Live (I know, weep for those in their late twenties), so a lot of this went over my head. My only other minor gripe is that there isn’t enough Kermit and Miss Piggy, who seem to be slightly on the sidelines while Gary, Walter and Mary take centre stage. You can’t keep a good frog or pig down, though, and their charisma shines through.

Muppets make people smile, and when combined with comedy talent like this, they make people smile from ear to ear.