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Comedy of Power
Koch Lorber Films


8.0

based on 13 reviews
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based on 3 votes
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FILM:

MPAA 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)

GENRE(S):	Comedy \| Drama \| Foreign \| Suspense/Thriller
WRITTEN BY:	Odile Barski Claude Chabrol
DIRECTED BY:	Claude Chabrol
RELEASE DATE:	DVD: May 8, 2007 Theatrical: January 5, 2007
RUNNING TIME:	110 minutes, Color
ORIGIN:	France
LANGUAGE(S):	French (with English subtitles)

Original title "L'Ivresse du Pouvoir"; Nominated, Golden Berlin Bear, 2006 Berlin International Film Festival

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.

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.

San Francisco Chronicle Mick LaSalle

In many ways a meandering film, a collection of good scenes.

Chicago Reader Richard M. Porton

One of Claude Chabrol's most satisfyingly astringent films in years.

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.

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.

TV Guide Ken Fox

Title notwithstanding, there's nothing particularly funny about this political drama from the tireless Claude Chabrol.

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?

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.

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.

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.

Entertainment Weekly Owen Gleiberman

Chabrol has fashioned a mystery that caves in on itself, but unfortunately, it caves in on the audience, too.

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.

The average user rating for this movie is 8.0 (out of 10) based on 3 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.

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Comedy of Power Koch Lorber Films

Comedy of Power
Koch Lorber Films