Comedy of Power

    Comedy of Power
    2006

    Synopsis

    Magistrate Jeanne Charmant-Killman doggedly investigates CEO Michel Humeau, who is accused of participating in massive corporate malfeasance. As her investigation leads her into the upper echelons of government, Jeanne becomes intoxicated by the power she is amassing.

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    Cast

    • Isabelle HuppertJeanne Charmant-Killman
    • François BerléandMichel Humeau
    • Patrick BruelJacques Sibaud
    • Marilyne CantoErika
    • Robin RenucciPhilippe Charmant-Killman
    • Thomas ChabrolFélix
    • Jean-François BalmerBoldi
    • Dominique DaguierInconnu
    • Pierre VernierPrésident Martino
    • Jacques BoudetDescarts

    Recommendations

    • 70

      Chicago Reader

      One of Claude Chabrol's most satisfyingly astringent films in years.
    • 70

      The New York Times

      As ever, Mr. Chabrol’s style is delicate and precise. Comedy of Power is not his deepest or most ambitious film, and its stance of knowing resignation in the face of corruption can feel a little glib. But Ms. Huppert's ferocity compensates for the director's detachment; no French actress is as riveting to watch once the gloves come off.
    • 63

      New York Daily News

      Draggy for long stretches, and never funny, Comedy of Power is a showcase - as if she needed another - for Huppert's chameleon qualities. She's an actress who can make a phone-book reading interesting, and that is pretty much the challenge she meets here.
    • 63

      TV Guide Magazine

      Title notwithstanding, there's nothing particularly funny about this political drama from the tireless Claude Chabrol.
    • 63

      Boston Globe

      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?
    • 60

      Variety

      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.
    • 60

      Village Voice

      An enjoyable but curiously weightless trifle that lowers rather than raises the temperature of the affair. Comedy of Power has to be the most polite, untroubled conspiracy film since the genre first tapped a phone.
    • 50

      The Hollywood Reporter

      The movie is too parochial for a wide audience. The French judicial system is totally alien to Americans, for instance, plus the film is a talkathon.

    Seen by

    • Viviana Rizzetto
    • jbazin
    • Bogdan W. Rousseau