Sound and fury

The Artist

Crit

Yes, that was a fine choice for the Xmas movie: mostly Singin' in the Rain, but darkened by A Star Is Born, eloquent in its silence, brilliant in its few sounds.

An elderly woman in my audience--perhaps sinking into dementia, perhaps just overexuberant and incapable of allowing so much to pass without spoken commentary--twice shouted out a comment, first, "That's quite a dog" and later, when talkies, marital strife, and the stock market crash have conspired to undo George Valentin (Jean Dujardin), "I wish I could make this stop." I'm sure all the rest of us shared the hope that we'd hear no more from her, but no one could argue with the sentiments. That Uggie is as good a dog as has been in the movies since those two four-letter '30s dogs that make regular appearances in the Times crossword puzzle.

Trailers

• Albert Nobbs--Oh, my, yes!
• W.E.--Oh, my, no!