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Stars indicate the most critically-acclaimed movies.
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Human Resources
Shooting Gallery
FILM:
MPAA RATING: Not rated
Starring
Jalil Lespert,
Jean-Claude Vallod,
Chantal Barré,
and
Véronique de Pandelaère
Franck (Lespert), a Parisian business school student, takes an internship in the Human Resources department at the factory where his father (Vallod) has labored for 30 years. Franck's efforts lead to the firing of many employees, including his father. (Shooting Gallery)
| GENRE(S): |
Drama
|
| WRITTEN BY: |
Laurent Cantet
Gilles Marchand
|
| DIRECTED BY: |
Laurent Cantet
|
| RELEASE DATE: |
DVD: August 3, 2004
Theatrical: September 15, 2000
|
| RUNNING TIME: |
102 minutes, Color |
| ORIGIN: |
France / UK |
| LANGUAGE(S): |
French (with English subtitles) |
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...
100
Boston Globe
Jay Carr
Terrific French film about that most universal of subjects - work.
100
Christian Science Monitor
David Sterritt
This superbly acted, expressively filmed story offers a rare blend of compelling drama, ethical awareness, and sheer human emotion.
91
Portland Oregonian
Shawn Levy
When it all comes to a head, what seems ordinary blossoms into something deeply complex and emotional.
91
Entertainment Weekly
Lisa Schwarzbaum
Acompelling, cant free drama about clashing class systems and challenged family relationships that's all the more engrossing for its organic, near documentary style.
90
Variety
David Rooney
A cogent human drama.
90
Chicago Reader
Jonathan Rosenbaum
This sharp, convincing, and utterly contemporary political film calls to mind some of Ken Loach's work, full of passion as well as precision.
83
Seattle Post-Intelligencer
William Arnold
An extraordinarily absorbing neo-realistic tragedy.
80
LA Weekly
Ernest Hardy
What makes this straightforward film so incredibly moving is that it keeps its scathing political commentary firmly rooted in everyday struggle.
80
Village Voice
Amy Taubin
Restrained, tough, and subtle enough to be as engrossing on the second viewing as it was on the first.
80
TV Guide
Ken Fox
What could easily have been a dry, didactic film is granted unusual power by Cantet's cast, all of whom seem to innately understand the personal nature of Cantet's subject.
80
Film.com
Sean Means
Human Resources resonates because it restores the humanity to that dehumanizing title phrase.
80
The New York Times
Stephen Holden
The movie's dramatic climax is a father-son confrontation of stunning cruelty. Although the movie stops short of outright tragedy, it is suffused with a grief born of rifts that may never be mended.
80
Los Angeles Times
Kenneth Turan
Concerned with fathers and sons, expectations and dreams, ideals and reality, this completely engrossing film gets more involving as it goes on.
79
Mr. Showbiz
Kevin Maynard
Most tenderly, the film deciphers the true meaning of its corporate-speak title in Franck and his father's impassioned struggle to ensure each other's welfare.
75
New York Daily News
Jami Bernard
The result is an undeniable and effective authenticity.
75
Philadelphia Inquirer
Desmond Ryan
A fresh, striking and rewarding piece of work.
75
San Francisco Examiner
Wesley Morris
At its best when it's hovering around the muted dysfunction between a father and a son, who never understood each other to begin with.
75
Chicago Sun-Times
Roger Ebert
A valuable, heartbreaking film about the way those resources are plugged into a system, drained of their usefulness and discarded.
75
San Francisco Chronicle
Mick LaSalle
A rare film about the class and educational divide that can happen even within families.
75
New York Post
Lou Lumenick
Offers highly effective performances by a cast of real-life employees without previous acting experience, who also collaborated on the intriguing screenplay.
70
Dallas Observer
Luke Y. Thompson
Part of the problem may be the use of non-actors in most of the roles. They look like real people, and they are entirely believable, but none has any kind of star charisma.
70
Washington Post
Stephen Hunter
Far from an amusing romp.
67
Austin Chronicle
Marc Savlov
Human Resources, which gets my vote for most sarcastic title of the year, isn't a stand up and cheer kind of film.
63
Baltimore Sun
Chris Kaltenbach
A working-class drama that has its heart in the right place but undercuts itself by stacking the deck, letting its main character off too lightly and being overly impressed with its own profundity.
50
Chicago Tribune
John Petrakis
Works so well for the first 40 minutes or so, that when the bottom falls out of it, I felt more than disappointed. I felt betrayed.
 The average user rating for this movie is 0.0 (out of 10) based on 0 User Votes
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