SpuffyWeb Sadly Over-hyped

Pluskylang Great Film overall

Dynamixor The performances transcend the film's tropes, grounding it in characters that feel more complete than this subgenre often produces.

Candida It is neither dumb nor smart enough to be fun, and spends way too much time with its boring human characters.

adrian-stern-1 This is almost certainly the worst film I've ever seen and I've seen some stinkers and definitely the worst French film; worse even than "Parapluies de Cherbourg" of which I've never managed to bear more than 10 minutes before screaming. It's hard to find a place to start the criticism but perhaps with the fact that it's not a moving picture but a filmed stage farce of the "Carry on up the Kyber" kind without the sparkle and wit of the Carry-on team. I love Deneuve and have long been a fan of Depardieu but this is a film in which they both do nothing but cruise along without trying and who can blame them? The plot wan't bad but the script and dialogue at the pre-pubescent level and the direction sloppy at best. It took me over half an hour to realise it was set in the seventies! I just thought the costume and photography odd! I couldn't stay awake I'll have to admit but I don't think I missed anything of any value and was rudely awakened by Deneuve singing an incredibly stupid song. Not even worthy to be called a turkey!

Christian Tsoutsouvas Successful French director Francois Ozon has made a delightful contribution to the French Film Festival with this splendid lightweight comedy about the feminist movement in 1970s France. Parading onto the silver screen with abundant energy and charm, it casually and engagingly introduces its colourful collection of characters with a quick succession of scenes bursting with razor-sharp witticism. Neglected trophy housewife Suzanne Pujol (Catherine Deneuve) spends her days slaving away in the grand estate of her horrid husband Robert (Fabrice Luchini), the tyrannical boss of a modest Umbrella factory. Robert spends his days immersed in his own corrupt despotism and long evenings of underhand sleaze with his spunky secretary Nadège (Karin Viard). Susanne appears well aware of Robert's nightly habits, but, naturally, she remains as obedient and docile as a puppy dog. It is their now grown-up children, Laurent (Jérémie Renier) and Joëlle (Judith Godrèche), who are the only ones of the family to oppose their father. Although, outside the Pujol family there are many people railing against him, particularly the restless factory workers. Petitions and rallies are not uncommon in the workplace and Robert has responded to each one with typically unproductive rage and stubbornness, but when a particularly violent protest enters illegality and threatens Robert's safety, the family becomes genuinely concerned. However, as they are unwilling to involve the police, Susanne desperately seeks the aid of her former lover the Mayor (Gérard Depardieu) who agrees to help provided that the employees' demands will be properly listened to. Robert is saved, but is still injured, leaving his position to be filled by his wife, until he recovers, seeing as neither Laurent nor Joëlle will volunteer.This event marks the beginning of Susanne's long journey towards independence and success. Her actions are highly entertaining to watch, and she is played very well by the lovely Deneuve. The rest of the cast is also wonderful, especially Luchini as the despicable misogynist husband and Viard as the feisty feminist secretary who ends up being Susanne's biggest fan. It is simply a sumptuous farcical treat of a film, filled with many tongue-in-cheek inside jokes and highly memorable moments. It might not be as artistic as Incendies, but it does leave one with a much nicer and more satisfied feeling.

jdesando "Your job is to share my opinion." Robert Pujol (Fabrice Luchini) to his wife.As you can tell from the trailers and the above quote, Suzanne Pujol (Catherine Deneuve) will not remain a potiche (Trophy wife) for long in Potiche, a fluffy satire of the late '70's fascination with the feminist movement. It's a lightweight look at the emergence of a woman to run the family business in a style that melds conservative and liberal values in the form of negotiations with unions and meaningful dialogue.The soft touch of director Francois Ozon is evident in almost every frame, from Suzanne's modest but flattering outfits to her soothing charm that binds friends and family in a humanity coming partly from her considerable beauty, even as a middle-aged woman, and partly from a script that leans to the left with good cheer.Along the way writers Pierre Barillet and Jean-Pierre Gredy (both successful with Just Go with It) guarantee Suzanne will triumph in the factory and a coda that looks ahead to Hillary Clinton. Although none of the dialogue is memorable and some of the setups sophomoric, the film retains its respect for her and the mission of feminism. The sweetness of it all is that despite her philandering husband, Suzanne has a checkered past as well, making for a balanced battle of the sexes.

bobbobwhite This film was primarily a glorification vehicle for former world beauty and French film icon Deneuve that got way too precious and obvious in its abject adoration by the end. This comedy about a tough factory owner who was kidnapped by his workers which allowed his more caring wife to take over his job was a bit better than TV quality fare and not much more than a mostly pleasant way to spend a couple of hours seeing how much a once great beauty has aged since her spot at the top of French cinema in the 60s and 70s. Deneuve's acting skill has not declined as much as her looks have but it has not improved much since then either, as her even, vapid personality made her role mostly uninteresting to me in this film just as most did back in the day. Other than her deserved status as a very attractive woman, there never was much there there. However, film always has been the showcase for the most beautiful women, as they do sell tickets no matter what kind of "acting" they do, as it's their "being" that counts more to an audience, especially to men. To their credit, the French are very appreciative and adamant about their icon worship, done very well recently in "The Illusionist" starring a graphic character of the incomparable Jacques Tati, but they went too far with little quality in Potiche. Vehicle movies are pure vanity pieces and often dismissed as fluff homage, and usually do not recover the cost of making them as they mostly do poorly at the box office due to their too-obvious glorifying agenda where story is very secondary to the primary purpose of overt and excessive icon adoration. This film may do fine in France, but I fully expect very poor box office to be the case in America.