Do you want to see ‘L'Ivresse du pouvoir (Comedy of Pow...’?

Add to Netflix

L'Ivresse du pouvoir (Comedy of Power) (2006)

tomatometer

All Critics
Top Critics

Average Rating: 6.6/10
Reviews Counted: 36
Fresh: 29 | Rotten: 7

No consensus yet.

Average Rating: 6.5/10
Critic Reviews: 13
Fresh: 10 | Rotten: 3

No consensus yet.

audience

liked it
Average Rating: 3.1/5
User Ratings: 436

My Rating

Added to your Facebook Timeline. — undo

Movie Info

Claude Chabrol's Comedy of Power stars Isabelle Huppert as a French judge who attempts to bring down the very powerful but corrupt CEO of a large corporation. As she digs deeper into the case, she uncovers criminal activity that stretches into the highest levels of government, and her life is turned upside down by death threats as well as her sudden celebrity. The film follows as her career affects her family. Loosely based on real events, Comedy of Power had its North American debut at the 2006

PG, 1 hr. 50 min.

Drama, Art House & International, Mystery & Suspense

Directed By: Claude Chabrol

In Theaters: Feb 22, 2006 Wide

On DVD: May 8, 2007

Koch Lorber Films

L'Ivresse du pouvoir (Comedy of Power) Trailer & Photos

Cast

Isabelle Huppert
Jeanne Charmant-Killman
Fran�ois Berl�and
Michel Humeau
Patrick Bruel
Jacques Sibaud
Robin Renucci
Philippe Charmant-Killm...
Maryline Canto
Erika
Thomas Chabrol
Félix, F�lix, F�lix
Jean-Fran�ois Balmer
Boldi
Pierre Vernier
President Martino
Jacques Boudet
Descarts
Philippe Duclos
Jean-Baptiste Holéo, J...
Jean-Christophe Bouvet
Parlebas
Roger Dumas
René Lange, Ren� Lange...
John P. Arnold
Man in Jaguar
Jacques Bouanich
Prison Guard
Beno�t Charpentier
Economics Journalist
Laurence Colussi
Lift Attendant
Dominique Daguier
Stranger 2
St�phane Debac
Thirty-Year Cop 1
Pierre-Francois Dumeniaud
Leblanc
Rapha�lle Farman
Singer
Pierre-Henri Gibert
Financial Group Minion
Michelle Goddet
Nicole Humeau
Cyril Guei
African Diplomat
Fernand Guiot
Belgian
Sophie Guiter
Evelyne
Jean-Marie Juan
Marco
A�cha Kossoko
Jeanne's Nurse
Nathalie Kousnetzoff
Michèle, Mich�le, Mich...
Pascale Mariani
Palais Cleaner
Raphael Neal
Stranger 1
Jacky Nercessian
Hotel Club Maître d', ...
Jean-Pierre Niob�
Jipe
Emmanuel Noyant
Policeman 1
Anthony Paliotti
Guard Doing Body Search
Guy Perrot
Dr. Philippe
Hubert Saint-Macary
Prison Director
Michel Scourneau
Man in Jaguar 2
Eric Sendra
Thirty-Year Cop 2
Yves Verhoeven
Benoît the Clerk, Beno...
Jean-Marie Winling
Man in Power

Critic Reviews for L'Ivresse du pouvoir (Comedy of Power)

All Critics (37) | Top Critics (14) | Fresh (30) | Rotten (7) | DVD (4)

It is long past time to recognize Claude Chabrol and Isabelle Huppert as one of the cinema's great actress-director collaborations.

April 20, 2007 Full Review Source: San Francisco Chronicle

| Comment

Mick LaSalle

San Francisco Chronicle

Top Critic

A witty, timely drama.

March 2, 2007 Full Review Source: Chicago Sun-Times

| Comment

Bill Stamets

Chicago Sun-Times

Top Critic

It's not often that you see the craft of cinema so perfectly executed -- or a group of fancy scoundrels so ruthlessly caught and skewered. Comedy of Power, like all of [Cluade] Chabrol's Hitchcockian films, is dark, smart and delicious.

March 1, 2007 Full Review Source: Chicago Tribune

| Comment

Michael Wilmington

Chicago Tribune

Top Critic

This movie can't commit to a genre, let alone a logical sequence or complete idea. But there is a wisdom in its blas� assessments and frivolous air: What's the point; where's the wine?

February 16, 2007 Full Review Source: Boston Globe

| Comment

Wesley Morris

Boston Globe

Top Critic

One cannot imagine a similarly sophisticated fictional treatment of the Enron case from the point of view of both the accusers and the accused; in Hollywood movies, there is only right and wrong. Chabrol's Comedy of Power is much wiser than that.

January 31, 2007 Comment

Andrew Sarris

New York Observer

Top Critic

Chabrol has fashioned a mystery that caves in on itself, but unfortunately, it caves in on the audience, too.

January 17, 2007 Full Review Source: Entertainment Weekly

| Comment

Owen Gleiberman

Entertainment Weekly

Top Critic

Despite the title, there's no laugh-out-loud comedy in this mostly serious thriller.

March 21, 2009 Full Review Source: Ozus' World Movie Reviews

| Comment

Dennis Schwartz

Ozus' World Movie Reviews

Very little happens, and it has the look of a TV movie; yet the pace never seems to let up, the screen never seems empty, and its grip on your attention doesn't falter.

December 14, 2007 Full Review Source: Independent

| Comment

Robert Hanks

Independent

The script is dapper and the story slick. But it is Huppert who gives it heft, style and star power.

December 14, 2007 Full Review Source: Financial Times

| Comment

Nigel Andrews

Financial Times

Chabrol is intriguing and relevant, but the power and the comedy are dissipated.

December 14, 2007 Full Review Source: Guardian [UK]

| Comment

Peter Bradshaw

Guardian [UK]

A Comedy Of Power fails to dig deep into this idea, or into the life of its protagonist. It's largely left to the charismatic Huppert to make this sly but oddly slight drama a decent watch.

December 13, 2007 Full Review Source: BBC

| Comment

Anna Smith

BBC

No laughs - but still plenty to like in this diverting and insightful thriller that plays out in the higher echelons of the French judiciary and Parisian world of high business.

December 13, 2007 Full Review Source: Time Out

| Comment

Dave Calhoun

Time Out

With Isabelle Huppert holding court and irresistibly dominating the proceedings, this is never really about the crimes she investigates - but it probably should have been, as the film, for all the quality of its performances, is a trial for the viewer.

December 6, 2007 Full Review Source: Film4

| Comment

Anton Bitel

Film4

Chabrol film based on true life incident, the investigation of crooked executives at Elf Aquitaine, the French version of Enron. Isabelle Huppert is terrific starring as chief magistrate.

June 8, 2007 Full Review Source: rec.arts.movies.reviews

| Comment

Louis Proyect

rec.arts.movies.reviews

Chabrol observes the power games and intimidations with a matter-of-fact directness...

May 9, 2007 Full Review Source: MSN.com

| Comment

Sean Axmaker

MSN.com

Chabrol manages a brisk, light tone, even though the movie is mostly talk, and Huppert turns in a powerhouse performance.

April 19, 2007 Full Review Source: Combustible Celluloid

| Comment

Jeffrey M. Anderson

Combustible Celluloid

...explores how power is never really diminished - it just changes hands.

March 2, 2007 Full Review Source: Sun Publications (Chicago, IL)

| Comment

Josh Larsen

Sun Publications (Chicago, IL)

Although Chabrol is celebrated as a master of suspense, his great movies, like this one and the underappreciated masterpiece Madame Bovary (also starring Huppert), meticulously expose the mechanisms of our entrapment.

March 1, 2007 Full Review Source: Film Journal International

| Comment

Maria Garcia

Film Journal International

More Critic Reviews

Audience Reviews for L'Ivresse du pouvoir (Comedy of Power)

View All

In "The Comedy of Power", Jeanne Charmant-Kilman(Isabelle Huppert), a judge investigating corruption, orchestrates the arrest of Humeau(Francois Berleand), a high-ranking official, and hopes to sweat the names of his cohorts out of him. But they are not that concerned, thinking that attention will be focused solely on

January 16, 2007

Walter M.

Super Reviewer

slow moving french film about the machinery of capitalism and one woman's determination to put a dent in the inherent corruption that lies within. Terrific acting by Huppert and Berland, but otherwise one soon realizes the futility of her struggle and the movie seems to slow down rather quickly, almost to a halt

January 12, 2010

alan jay

Super Reviewer

L'Ivresse du pouvoir (Comedy of Power) Quotes

View All

No quotes approved yet for L'Ivresse du pouvoir (Comedy of Power). Logged in users can submit quotes.

Submit a Quote from 'L'Ivresse du pouvoir (Comedy of Power)'

A quote can be a single line from one character or a memorable dialog between several characters. Please make your quotes accurate. Quotes will be submitted for approval by the RT staff.

Example:

Luke: Alright. I'll give it a try.
Yoda: No. Try not. Do or do not. There is no try.