Lone Star International Film Festival 2011

A major sensation at Cannes this year, Hazanavicius's latest is a film lover's dream and a tribute to the early days of silent pictures when the concept of the "movie star" was just being born. Jean Dujardin is George Valentin, one of the biggest celebrities of the silent screen in 1920s Hollywood. When a young woman named Peppy stumbles into him as he walks down the red carpet, George inadvertently helps Peppy become a star in her own right, harkening back to the kind of blind luck that created so many icons in those day. At first, their shared stardom is bliss for both George and Peppy, but, when talking pictures begin to take over, George's unwillingness to follow the trend endangers his entire career. While Peppy enjoys a meteoric rise through the Hollywood firmament, George sinks to an all-time low. Like "Singin' in the Rain" and "A Star Is Born" did so many years ago, this film will make you fall in love with movies and the allure of moviemaking all over again.