What a treat. I left the theater sort of floating. Delighted. A European film looking back at Hollywood better than Hollywood has been able to do for years. "A Star Is Born" and "Singing In The Rain" mixed in a glorious black and white cocktail. Silent, yes silent! But with a fabulous score and so much panache. Jean Dujardin is the revelation of the year. What a performance! Running the gamut of emotions, leaving us breathless, and if this wasn't enough, a rousing tap dance routine in the style of Fred Astaire and Eleanor Powell, partnering with the wonderful Berenice Bejo. I know that it's not just me. The audience applauded and cheered as the end credits rolled.

2011 saw a lot of very good to outstanding films. After seeing 'The Artist', having heard so much about it but never got round to seeing it, for me it is up there with the best of them and one of the best films seen in a long time.

As someone who loves a lot of films from the silent era, having been vastly entertained by classics from the likes of cinema icons Charlie Chaplin and Buster Keaton, 'The Artist' is magical film-making, a wonderfully endearing homage to the silent era and is much more than just a gimmick like it could easily have been in lesser hands.

For starters, 'The Artist' is gorgeously filmed in black and white with the cinematography along with the likes of 'Drive', 'The Tree of Life' and 'Hugo' being some of the best of the year. One of the most visually exquisite films seen in a long time actually. The music score, with a nice affectionate nod to one of the greatest music scores of all-time Bernard Hermann's 'Vertigo', is whimsical and rich in playfulness and charm, all the time beautifully orchestrated.

'The Artist' was clearly written with a lot of affection, with plenty of funny and poignant moments, and while the storytelling is simple it really uplifts and moves with the atmosphere of the silent era more than convincingly evoked. The direction is also without complaint. The characters endear and entertain, especially George and adorable Uggie, and nothing can be faulted about the acting.

Jean Dujardin's lead performance is just wonderful, a more than worthy winner for the best actor award. Bérénice Bejo is similarly charming and has great chemistry with Dujardin, while the talented supporting cast are all stellar with no weak links. As for adorable Uggie, one of the best animal performances on film to me and award-worthy if there was an award eligible for animals (which one wouldn't say no to).

In conclusion, a sheer delight all round and, despite the competition being strong, its Oscar win for Best Picture was deserved. One of the easiest 10/10s given recently. Bethany Cox

"The Artist" is a great example of a very good film that was over-hyped by critics. Again and again, I heard how the film was a prime Oscar-contender. So, as a result, I had EXTREMELY high hopes--too high, actually. If I'd heard nothing about the film, I would have left the theater VERY satisfied.

Oddly, this film is the second homage to silent films that's been released in the last few months. "HUGO" was simply brilliant (and my hope is that it gets the Best Picture nod) and "The Artist" is fortunately very good but quite different in style. It is, aside from one song with lyrics and the end of the film, silent with only some incidental music and occasional sound effects. It's a reworking of the myth about TONS of silent stars losing their careers because of their inability to adapt to talking pictures (popularized by the film "Singing in the Rain"). I say 'myth' because actually very few major actors really lost their careers due to the coming of talking pictures. Two frequent examples often cited, Clara Bow and John Gilbert, really weren't lost in talkies completely because of their voices. Sure, Bow had a thick New York accent--but her odd-screen antics (she was the Lindsay Lohan of her day) and fragile mental health really did a lot more to push her out of films. But Gilbert did some amazingly good talkies and his losing his career had a lot more to do with Louis B. Mayer hating him--as well as Gilbert's heavy drinking--and nothing to do with his fine voice. But,...back to the story.

Jean Dujardin plays a huge silent film star--one very similar to Douglas Fairbanks. Along the way, he helps an aspiring actress (Bérénice Bejo) and soon she, too, becomes a star. However, when talking pictures come, she becomes a mega-star and Dujardin becomes a has-been. The plot is quite a bit like a reworking of "A Star is Born"--and is clever enough and new enough not to be repetitive. However, to me, the star of the film was actually Uggie--the wonderful dog (actually three different ones according to IMDb) who co-starred in Dujardin's silent films.

So why am I only giving the film a very respectable 8 when critics are going crazy talking about it? Well, the story is originally but it's also VERY simple. It is also, unfortunately, a tad predictable...though quite satisfying as well. Not a bad film--in fact, a very good one--with nice cinematography and music as well. But probably not among the very best films of the year.

FYI--Dujardin and Bejo have played together before--such as in the very funny James Bond-type comedy "OSS 117"--which is also very well worth seeing.