Comedy of Power

Name: Comedy of Power
Genre: Drama
Released: January 5, 2007
Duration: 110 min
Rating: 64
Cast: François Berléand, Isabelle Huppert, Patrick Bruel

2007

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Generally favorable reviews based on 13 Critic Reviews

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Generally favorable reviews based on 4 Ratings

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8.0	User Score Generally favorable reviews based on 4 Ratings

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Comedy Of Power

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Movie Details & Credits

Koch Lorber Films | Release Date: January 5, 2007

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)

Director: Claude Chabrol

Genre(s): Drama

Runtime: 110 min

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Critic Reviews

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

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

Mick LaSalle

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

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

TV Guide Magazine Ken Fox

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

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

Owen Gleiberman

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

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RobertC.

Jan 19, 2007

Isabelle Huppert is a flawed supranatural moral force in Comedy of Power. An ironicallly satisfying performance.

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Enrique

Jan 7, 2007

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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ChadS.

May 15, 2007

"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 "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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