Tim Kidner Both French stars Catherine Deneuve and Gerard Depardieu have made some of France's finest films and covered a huge array of subjects.On paper, this Francois Ozon directed comedy should work and has much going for it. Based on a play by Pierre Barillet, it possibly could have worked better in that format. 'Potiche', meaning Trophy Wife refers to the lady at leisure, Suzanne Pujol (Deneuve), married to Robert (Fabrice Luchini) and whose home-making skills are left to the staff.We initially see Suzanne out jogging at a leisurely pace and even then, the first odd and quirky snippets pop up - fornicating rabbits, a doe, all sort of cheerily saying hello to us - and her. From then on, my thoughts were was that I wasn't going to like Potiche and neither did my friend. We put up with 20 more minutes before switching off.I decided to borrow the DVD (his parent's) to see if it was actually any good and I still couldn't get into it, though I saw it all. It was, I think, the 1970's style (it IS set then) sort of sitcom, with blindingly fast and largely trite dialogue but without the canned laughter, that I almost expected. Except, I didn't laugh at all, not for the whole of the film.There were some interesting plot-lines that involved descendants from affairs and the run for Mayor but all the ones regarding the ins and outs of unions and saving the umbrella factory left me cold. Depardieu's character as the Mayor and past romantic interest to Deneuve's Suzanne was a bit one-dimensional and boring, I found.Unfortunately, Potiche irritated me more than it entertained me and whilst there were many well-timed verbal exchanges between the characters, their straightforward delivery gave no room for acting that was more than what was necessary. I was disappointed with Potiche but can see perhaps why others have enjoyed it.

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.

gregking4 This sophisticated and witty comedy about business, politics and the dynamics of a dysfunctional family was the opening night attraction at this year's French Film Festival, and it is a crowd pleaser. Catherine Deneuve finds one of her best roles for some time here as Suzanne, a stay at home sixty-something woman who is married to the scheming and power hungry Robert (Fabrice Luchini), who runs the family umbrella factory with an iron fist. When the workers go on strike and take Robert hostage, Suzanne steps in to negotiate a truce. No longer willing to sit at home and play the trophy wife, Suzanne takes over the running of the business. She employs her two children to help with the day to day operations. And she even wins over Robert's secretary/mistress (Karin Viard) as a loyal ally to help implement some changes to the business. But that is just the start, and sets the scene for some unexpected complications in the third act. Potiche is based on a popular French farce written by Jean-Pierre Gredy, and Francois Ozon directs the material with unusual restraint, capturing the tone of those screwball comedies popular in the 60's and 70's. He makes the most of the 70's retro style settings and kitsch. Deneuve has appeared in several of Ozon's films, but this is her first appearance since 8 Women nearly a decade ago. She lends her luminous presence to the film, and brings a hidden strength, fire, intelligence, warmth and passion to her performance as the frustrated and sheltered housewife no longer willing to sit at home. In a smaller supporting role as a communist-leaning politician and former flame of Suzanne's, Gerard Depardieu has a twinkle in his eye and brings a light tough to the role. Both Deneuve and Depardieu are stalwarts of French cinema and the scenes they share together crackle with nostalgic touches of their film history. Luchini is good at playing weaselly, sleazy and unsympathetic characters, and he is very good here. Potiche is lightweight and frothy comedy with broad appeal.