The Artist (2011)

Best Picture, 2012 ceremony. A modern black-and-white film about silent Hollywood brought a welcome burst of visual playfulness, and Jean Dujardin's physical timing remains a pleasure. The sound jokes and physical comedy reward revisiting. My enthusiasm drops in the longer passages of George's decline, where Peppy's generosity gives the familiar fallen-star story more warmth than complexity. Once the formal surprises are familiar, that uneven balance becomes harder to overlook.