Comedy of Power
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Metascore
64 out of 100

Generally favorable reviews - based on 13 Critics What's this?

User Score
8.0 out of 10

Generally favorable reviews- based on 4 Ratings

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  • Starring: François Berléand, Isabelle Huppert, Patrick Bruel
  • Summary: 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)

Critic Reviews

Score distribution:
  1. Positive: 8 out of 13
  2. Mixed: 5 out of 13
  3. Negative: 0 out of 13
  1. Chicago Tribune
    Reviewed by: Michael Wilmington
    88
    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.
  2. Film Threat
    Reviewed by: Matthew Sorrento
    80
    A well-designed vehicle for the director's long-time star, Isabelle Huppert, whose focused portrayal makes this film a well-honed character study.
  3. San Francisco Chronicle
    Reviewed by: Mick LaSalle
    75
    In many ways a meandering film, a collection of good scenes.
  4. Village Voice
    Reviewed by: Jim Ridley
    60
    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.

See all 13 Critic Reviews

User Reviews

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Score distribution:
  1. Positive: 3 out of 3
  2. Mixed: 0 out of 3
  3. Negative: 0 out of 3
  1. RobertC.
    9
    Isabelle Huppert is a flawed supranatural moral force in Comedy of Power. An ironicallly satisfying performance.
  2. Enrique
    9
    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.… Expand
  3. ChadS.
    6
    "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.… Expand

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