Synopsis
At the age of 51 and after 20 months on unemployment, Thierry starts a new job that soon brings him face to face with a moral dilemma. How much is he willing to accept to keep his job?
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Cast
- Vincent LindonThierry Taugourdeau
- Karine de MirbeckLa femme de Thierry
- Mathieu SchallerLe fils de Thierry
- Yves OryConseiller Pôle emploi
- Xavier MathieuLe collègue syndicaliste
- Noel MairotLe professeur de danse
- Catherine Saint-BonnetLa banquière
- Christophe RossignonEmployeur sur Skype (voice)
- Soufiane GuerrabLe jeune homme interpellé
Recommendations
- 91
The Playlist
Lindon's performance is so perfectly judged, so inspiring of an avalanche of sympathy and empathy without ever seeking it out, that we are on Thierry's side immediately, feeling every slight and every instance of condescension perhaps even more strongly than he does himself. - 88
Slant Magazine
It exhibits the spry subtlety of Jean and Luc Dardenne's films, and, consequently, it's possible that it will be similarly mistaken for a work of “naturalism.” - 88
New York Post
French director Stéphane Brizé films in lingering takes, with Lindon in almost every shot, and the actor is wonderful, able to convey Thierry’s conflict even when his back is to the camera. - 83
IndieWire
Brizé ("Mademoiselle Chambon") is a humanist, not an economist, and his modest but moving new film is a welcome reminder that — for someone who can't afford to put food on the table or provide a proper education for their child— business is always personal. - 80
Variety
Brize (“Mademoiselle Chambon”) makes compelling drama out of the most ordinary of circumstances, and draws a lead performance from frequent collaborator Vincent Lindon that is a veritable master class in understated humanism. - 75
The A.V. Club
Brizé doesn’t have the Dardennes’ gift for narrative complexity, and he stacks the deck against his hero more than is really necessary.... But The Measure Of A Man’s beating heart is Lindon’s performance. - 70
The Hollywood Reporter
Highlighted by an all-consuming lead performance from Lindon – surrounded here by an excellent cast of non-pros – this third collaboration strays further into Dardennes Bros. territory than previous efforts, although its depiction of an Average Joe scraping by in contemporary France features its own unique voice. - 70
The New Yorker
Most of Lindon’s fellow-actors are nonprofessionals who do their real-life jobs onscreen, and the intrinsic fascination of their performances—and of the world of work itself—opens exotic speculative vistas.
