The Artist

A delectable homage to the silent movies of the 1920s, Michel Hazanavicius’ romantic comedy plays like a sweet, airy confection. That The Artist is itself a silent movie - in black-and-white, no less - shouldn’t deter viewers from giving it a whirl. It opens in 1927, when the dapper film star George Valentin (Jean Dujardin) rules Hollywoodland. When George crosses paths with an eager newcomer named Peppy Miller (Berenice Bejo), he’s cast in the role of mentor; but when talking pictures become the order of the day, she quickly begins an ascent up stardom’s ladder, while George’s fortunes begin their inevitable slide. Even the most arresting visual stunts would amount to little more than pastiche were it not for Dujardin and Bejo, who infuse their characters with palpable longing and regret. With equally able supporting performances, The Artist hews faithfully to the classics it celebrates, offering a cautionary parable regarding the wages of fame but wrapping it in velvety aesthetic values, crisp storytelling and fabulous dance numbers.

“A Thousand Words” (PG-13, 91 minutes, Paramount): Eddie Murphy’s Jack McCall is a powerhouse literary agent who doesn’t stop talking long enough to read the books he pitches to major publishers. His latest target is a stadium-packing, vaguely Indian new age guru who presents Jack with an unmarketably terse five-page book and a mystical Bodhi tree. The tree, it turns out, is psychically grafted to Jack. It loses a leaf every time he releases a word, and both tree and man will perish when the last leaf falls. This is a problem not only at work, but also at home, where Jack’s wife has picked exactly this moment to insist that her husband communicate better. More bland than bad, the film has a few nice moments. Sure, there are cheap sex gags and broad slapstick routines, but the movie seems sincere about its self-help-book moral. Contains sexual situations, including dialogue, language and some drug related humor. DVD extras: Six deleted scenes. Also, on Blu-ray: five more deleted scenes, alternate ending.

Mirror, Mirror

Director Tarsem Singh has shown a gift for fantastical settings, and Snow White’s kingdom is no exception. Unfortunately, actress Lily Collins as Snow White offers a pale reflection of her stunning setting. The fair Snow White is sequestered in her late father’s castle by her pathologically vain stepmother, the Evil Queen (Julia Roberts). After sneaking out of the fortress for a visit to the village, Snow meets Prince Alcott of Valencia in the woods. He has been bound and burgled, and she, having no idea he is a prince, unties him and then blushes furiously. Later, when the prince arrives at the castle looking for sanctuary, the queen goes into cougar mode. But naturally, the prince has eyes only for the mysterious, raven-haired beauty he encountered in the forest. Most of Snow’s interactions with the magnetic prince are tepid, except for one flirty sword fight. Even the climactic kiss is a snooze.

Out This Week

21 Jump Street; A Thousand Words; Wrath of the Titans, The 39 Steps (1935, Criterion Collection).