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Comedy of Power

Generally favorable reviews
Based on 13 critic reviews
How did we calculate this?
Based on 4 votes
Read user comments
Rate this movie >
Movie Info
Genre(s): Comedy | Drama | Foreign | Suspense/Thriller
Written by:
Odile Barski
Claude Chabrol
Directed by: Claude Chabrol
Release Date:
Theatrical: January 5, 2007
DVD: May 8, 2007
Running Time: 110 minutes, Color
Origin: France
Language(s): French (with English subtitles)
Summary
RATING: Not Rated
Starring Isabelle Huppert, François Berléand, Patrick Bruel, Marilyne Canto, Robin Renucci, Thomas Chabrol, Jean-François Balmer, and Pierre Vernier
The latest work from France's master of suspense, Comedy of Power probes France's unspoken laws of class and power as an unstoppable woman embarks upon a trail to uncover a vast web of deceit and treachery. (IFC)
Also On Metacritic
FILM: Merci Pour le Chocolat The Bridesmaid (La Demoiselle d'Honneur) The Flower of Evil
Also On The Web: Internet Movie Database Official Studio Site
What The Critics Said
All critic scores are converted to a 100-point scale. If a critic does not indicate a score, we assign a score based on the general impression given by the text of the review. Learn more...
Chicago Tribune Michael Wilmington
It's not often that you see the craft of cinema so perfectly executed--or a group of fancy scoundrels so ruthlessly caught and skewered. Comedy of Power, like all of Chabrol's Hitchcockian films, is dark, smart and delicious.
Read Full Review >Film Threat Matthew Sorrento
A well-designed vehicle for the director's long-time star, Isabelle Huppert, whose focused portrayal makes this film a well-honed character study.
Read Full Review >San Francisco Chronicle Mick LaSalle
In many ways a meandering film, a collection of good scenes.
Read Full Review >Chicago Reader Richard M. Porton
One of Claude Chabrol's most satisfyingly astringent films in years.
Read Full Review >The New York Times A.O. Scott
As ever, Mr. Chabrol’s style is delicate and precise. Comedy of Power is not his deepest or most ambitious film, and its stance of knowing resignation in the face of corruption can feel a little glib. But Ms. Huppert's ferocity compensates for the director's detachment; no French actress is as riveting to watch once the gloves come off.
Read Full Review >New York Daily News Jack Mathews
Draggy for long stretches, and never funny, Comedy of Power is a showcase - as if she needed another - for Huppert's chameleon qualities. She's an actress who can make a phone-book reading interesting, and that is pretty much the challenge she meets here.
Read Full Review >TV Guide Ken Fox
Title notwithstanding, there's nothing particularly funny about this political drama from the tireless Claude Chabrol.
Read Full Review >Boston Globe Wesley Morris
This movie can't commit to a genre, let alone a logical sequence or complete idea. But there is a wisdom in its blasé assessments and frivolous air: What's the point; where's the wine?
Read Full Review >Variety Lisa Nesselson
While the picture may be too subtle and oblique in places for more general audiences, it remains enjoyable as a sardonic glimpse of unspoken codes at the intersection of politics and business.
Read Full Review >Village Voice Jim Ridley
An enjoyable but curiously weightless trifle that lowers rather than raises the temperature of the affair. Comedy of Power has to be the most polite, untroubled conspiracy film since the genre first tapped a phone.
Read Full Review >The Hollywood Reporter Kirk Honeycutt
The movie is too parochial for a wide audience. The French judicial system is totally alien to Americans, for instance, plus the film is a talkathon.
Read Full Review >Entertainment Weekly Owen Gleiberman
Chabrol has fashioned a mystery that caves in on itself, but unfortunately, it caves in on the audience, too.
Read Full Review >New York Post V.A. Musetto
At age 76, Chabrol seems to be just going through the motions, but anyone who has helmed 70 films ("Les Bonnes Femmes" and "La Ceremonie," for example) is entitled to an off day. Look for him to dazzle us next time out.
Read Full Review >What Our Users Said
The average user rating for this movie is 8.0 (out of 10) based on 4 User Votes
Note: User votes are NOT included in the Metascore calculation.
Chad S. gave it a6:
"Comedy of Power" starts to lose some of its juice after Judge Charmant's witchhunt of high-powered, amoral CEO-types goes beyond Humeau(Francois Berleand), who is a much better-defined character than the other movers and shakers the judge interviews. Charmant's personal life is more interesting than her embattlement with the cabal of allegedly corrupt businessmen. To see the judge's imperfect marriage makes her a sympathetic protagonist because she's not the traditional crusader against injustice we're accustomed to seeing in American films. Charmant(Isabelle Huppert) lambasts Humeau for his money-burning ways; she cites how the average French person only makes minimum wage, and yet the judge is hardly proletariat herself(there is a consciousness of class-distinction in the way Charmant treats an office cleaner; the judge is part of the bourgeoise). To know the true nature of a person, notice how they treat the little people. She is a careerist. Office-size matters to her as much as getting the bad guys. Exactly what the bad guys are doing could've been better clarified by the filmmaker(there's no narrative arc to the investigation), because this lack of definition gives the audience very little to be angry at. "Comedy of Power" is actually about how it's hard for a successful woman to juggle a career and a personal life.
Robert C. gave it a9:
Isabelle Huppert is a flawed supranatural moral force in Comedy of Power. An ironicallly satisfying performance.
Enrique gave it a9:
Chabrol directs this cruel satire with a strong dettachment, making it pure acid. Certainly not for everyone. Huppert delivers a wonderful , unforgetable performance. Too bad that this movie will never get Oscar attention.
