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.

It's a mild crowd pleaser for people who are exhausted by blockbusters.

All of these films share one commonality, that being a kind of emotional center that humanizes a cast of monsters.

This is one of the best movies I’ve seen in a very long time. You have to go and see this on the big screen.

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.

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.

"Your job is to share my opinion." Robert Pujol (Fabrice Luchini) to his wife.As you can tell from the trailers and the above quote, Suzanne Pujol (Catherine Deneuve) will not remain a potiche (Trophy wife) for long in Potiche, a fluffy satire of the late '70's fascination with the feminist movement. It's a lightweight look at the emergence of a woman to run the family business in a style that melds conservative and liberal values in the form of negotiations with unions and meaningful dialogue.The soft touch of director Francois Ozon is evident in almost every frame, from Suzanne's modest but flattering outfits to her soothing charm that binds friends and family in a humanity coming partly from her considerable beauty, even as a middle-aged woman, and partly from a script that leans to the left with good cheer.Along the way writers Pierre Barillet and Jean-Pierre Gredy (both successful with Just Go with It) guarantee Suzanne will triumph in the factory and a coda that looks ahead to Hillary Clinton. Although none of the dialogue is memorable and some of the setups sophomoric, the film retains its respect for her and the mission of feminism. The sweetness of it all is that despite her philandering husband, Suzanne has a checkered past as well, making for a balanced battle of the sexes.

Review of POTICHE (Trophy Wife) The GoodIt's a a frothy comedy, but managed to touch upon complex issues of gender, personal triumph and defeat, marriage crisis, ideologies and political dynamics intertwined with personal lives. It's done so without getting heavy, almost effortless, making the viewing experience a delight.Suzanne Pujol is another star vehicle for Catherine Deneuve. And no matter how many times I've seen this, and regardless of her age, she seems to deserve it as her birth right. Deneuve bounced off descent performances by a star line-up of half of the who's who in French cinema including the likes of Gérard Depardieu, and it was fun to watch.The plot and the ending are not over the top, though very polished still somewhat true to life. Easy said than done for a personal triumph story in a light comedy.The BadDeneuve seems to be having so much fun in her role, but I never quite cared as much. At more than one occasions, their performance may appear effortless at first, but getting thin and tiring quickly. The characters' youthful indiscretions, twists and turns in the plots seem to be strong spices without good food to cling on to.The UglyIt is so polished that, at times, I feel three or four short trailers would have done the job. Kind of like visiting a small pantheon of contemporary French acting Gods in a lazy Sun afternoon.