Pluskylang Great Film overall

Fairaher The film makes a home in your brain and the only cure is to see it again.

Numerootno A story that's too fascinating to pass by...

Skyler Great movie. Not sure what people expected but I found it highly entertaining.

Bill Phillips Francois Ozon (director) rocks. I rarely laugh outloud home alone at a movie, but I did throughout this one. Just looking at Depardieu makes me laugh. And, watching him and Deneuve dance "boogie fingers" in a night club is hilarious. This is meant to be sort of a "tongue in cheek" farce. It pokes light- hearted fun at serious issues, like fidelity, infidelity, women's rights, working class dignity, labor unions, strikes, noblesse oblige, incest, parenthood... have I left anything out?

ed0881 Potiche is not a charmless film in any sense - it's visually very well observed, with a sincerely analogue feel that is thoroughly convincing, and occasionally it's fairly funny. So I found why I wasn't wholly enjoying the picture at the time pretty hard to pin down, but concluded that it was some basic narrative inauthenticity. Which should be fine, right? Because it was charming, and an almost pretty persuasive meta-farce; as whimsical, distracting and colourful as the brief dictates. But for a film of this length which functions, as you'll notice, in two - if not three - pretty exhausting segments, and whose foci are family, class, female equality and ageing, Potiche needed to decide what it was, who its target was, and commit itself to it with a bit more feeling. It was thoroughly enjoyable, but when has the treatment of these subjects, even farcically, not benefited from slightly more depth than Potiche has? I doubt you'll regret seeing it, but expect to leave not wholly sure what you've seen.

Lee Eisenberg François Ozon's "Potiche" combines the labor movement with women's lib. It stars Catherine Deneuve as housewife Suzanne, whose husband Robert (Fabrice Luchini) owns an umbrella factory in 1977 France. When the workers go on strike and take Robert hostage, Suzanne has to negotiate with communist leader Maurice Babin (Gérard Depardieu) for his release...which leads to her taking leadership of the company! Along with this, the movie shows other things. Both of Suzanne and Robert's children have ended up on opposite ends of the political spectrum, while Suzanne and Maurice have a history of their own, and Robert has no qualms about the prospect of outsourcing the jobs to Tunisia, where he can pay cheaper wages. There's even a song early in the movie with a surprising lyric at the end! But overall, even though "Potiche" is not the best movie ever made, it's still a good look at the changing mores in the late '70s, with input from all sides. Definitely one that I enjoyed (and that I recommend).Also starring Karin Viard, Judith Godrèche and Jérémie Renier.

d_art Based on a French play, Potiche (aka. Trophy Wife) is set in 1977. Suzanne Pujol (Catherine Deneuve), a 'trophy housewife', finds out she must step up to manage her tyrannical husband Robert's (Fabrice Luchini) umbrella factory after the workers go on strike and take him hostage. To everyone's surprise, Suzanne proves herself to be a very competent leader of action. Her adult son and daughter also start to take more interest in the workings of the factory. Things get complex, however, when she bumps into her old flame and local politician, Maurice Babin (Gérard Depardieu), and her husband returns to take back his job.Whenever a film of recent years, like this one, try to fully capture the feel and style of a 70's film (or anything retro) with editing, camera tricks, and colors reminiscent of that era, I can't help but smile. Had I not known that this film was made in 2010, I could have been convinced that this was a film made in that decade. Of course, this is aside from the dead giveaways to the contrary with the appearances of well-known French actors who have obviously aged.Directed by François Ozon (Swimming Pool), this is a well-done, entertaining and visually attractive satire. A mixture of pastel and hot colors permeate throughout the film, along with bell-bottoms, retro hairstyles, design patterns, and clothing. The colorful umbrellas in the film are perhaps a good reminder of Deneuve's older, famous film, The Umbrellas of Cherbourg. The colorful, playful, comedic tone of this film remains consistent, yet there are just enough complexities in the plot to keep the film from getting dull. AdvertisementAdmittedly, there's something rather monotonous about casual adulterous relationships in French films. It's almost expected in a French comedy (Unlike in America, French must find adultery sooooo funny). Robert has a mistress who is also his secretary, Nadège (Karin Viard), whom Suzanne knows about. Nevertheless, Suzanne is content with her life at home as Robert provides for her, materially. Once Robert is taken hostage and Suzanne takes over as manager of the company, the secretary becomes one of her closest allies. Meanwhile, her son Laurent (Jérémie Renier) and her daughter, Joëlle (Judith Godrèche), help out on the company as well, which does bring the family together more than before.Catherine Deneuve is quite likable in this film. It's hard not to cheer for the initially soft-spoken Suzanne. She is a cheerful character with a certain naïve optimism that makes her charming to people around her. And, well, she gets things done. Once she is proved to be a fairer and better leader than Robert, one can't help but be engaged in what she will do next. There is a side story regarding her past affair with Maurice (Depardieu), who still has feelings for her. The relationship between them does not take a typical turn, which I appreciated. While Robert comes off mostly as a buffoonish character, he isn't portrayed as someone to be simply reviled, thankfully. Overall, this is a colorfully entertaining, satirical film with playful characters and a nice retro style. Catherine Deneuve is a lot of fun to watch, and while this is not a subtle film by any means, it has enough energy and humor to be engaging throughout.You can find more of my movie review updates on http://twitter.com/d_art