Karry Best movie of this year hands down!

SparkMore n my opinion it was a great movie with some interesting elements, even though having some plot holes and the ending probably was just too messy and crammed together, but still fun to watch and not your casual movie that is similar to all other ones.

Staci Frederick Blistering performances.

Dana An old-fashioned movie made with new-fashioned finesse.

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?

TheSquiss Potiche (Trophy Wife)Orange nearly killed Potiche for me. You can always tell who doesn't go to the cinema very often by the way they laugh at the Orange Wednesday adverts. Mostly they're not funny even on the first experience but after the sheer number of viewings I suffer? Nope. Not at all. It's a new definition of pain. Not that Orange cares. However, far from encouraging me to a) buy an Orange phone package or b) see the film they've hijacked for their latest campaign, their two-minute (too long) offerings usually kill any urge I once had. Rio? Nooooo. The Expendables 2? Not on your nelly! Only the intrigue of what was really being said in the Orange vs Potiche ad and the matter that it fitted a limited timeslot for viewing made me waver on this occasion.It wasn't a disaster but I don't think many readers of The Squiss will take a chance on it and I'm not really up for a second viewing. It's a 'period piece' set in chauvinistic, 1970s France. The workers in an umbrella factory run by wealthy industrialist Robert Pujol (Fabrice Luchini) tire of his tyrannical ways and opt to strike until he meets their demands for fairer pay and better conditions, holding him hostage in the process. His dutiful but suppressed and frustrated wife, Suzanne (Catherine Deneuve on assured form), takes control temporarily, finds she has a flare for it and packs him off for a recuperation break. Suzanne trundles along quite nicely and in the good company of communist mayor, Maurice Babin (Gérard Depardieu), who just happens to be Suzanne's former lover, until Robert returns and attempts to seize control again.Potiche is an old film. It's deliberately stylized that way and it will suit some people perfectly but many others will resent the dated feel it has. It's an attractive visual history lesson and entertaining for the fashion, hairstyles and décor on display. All the principals are immensely watchable, that's why they are so hugely successful in France, at least. They genuinely have chemistry and it's a pleasure to watch them orbit around each other.There are lovely touches and some surprisingly tender moments. At times it's very amusing and Suzanne is a character that surprises just when you think you understand her, but it's never really funny. Not laugh-out-loud funny. Perhaps it would have been hysterical in the 70s but director François Ozon seems to have forgotten that Potiche is a film set in the 70s, not from the 70s.Many critics rave and, yes, it has landed seven major award nominations (including four Césars, one Golden Lion and a BAFTA) but, and here's a fact that just might say something, at the time of writing this, it hasn't won any. Not one! Conversely, even Young Adult, another film I awarded just two stars, has won five awards from sixteen nominations.It's not a waste of an evening but I'm fairly certain that if you trawl through my reviews you'll find a film that will be a far more enjoyable investment of an evening. Potiche is funnier than the Orange Wednesday advert, but not much.

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.

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.