User Reviews

"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 Good

It'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 Bad

Deneuve 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 Ugly

It 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.

This film was primarily a glorification vehicle for former world beauty and French film icon Deneuve that got way too precious and obvious in its abject adoration by the end. This comedy about a tough factory owner who was kidnapped by his workers which allowed his more caring wife to take over his job was a bit better than TV quality fare and not much more than a mostly pleasant way to spend a couple of hours seeing how much a once great beauty has aged since her spot at the top of French cinema in the 60s and 70s. Deneuve's acting skill has not declined as much as her looks have but it has not improved much since then either, as her even, vapid personality made her role mostly uninteresting to me in this film just as most did back in the day. Other than her deserved status as a very attractive woman, there never was much there there. However, film always has been the showcase for the most beautiful women, as they do sell tickets no matter what kind of "acting" they do, as it's their "being" that counts more to an audience, especially to men. To their credit, the French are very appreciative and adamant about their icon worship, done very well recently in "The Illusionist" starring a graphic character of the incomparable Jacques Tati, but they went too far with little quality in Potiche.

Vehicle movies are pure vanity pieces and often dismissed as fluff homage, and usually do not recover the cost of making them as they mostly do poorly at the box office due to their too-obvious glorifying agenda where story is very secondary to the primary purpose of overt and excessive icon adoration. This film may do fine in France, but I fully expect very poor box office to be the case in America.

Based on a French play, Potiche (aka. Trophy Wife) is set in 1977. Suzanne Pujol (Catherine Deneuve), a 'trophy housewife', finds out she must step up to manage her tyrannical husband Robert's (Fabrice Luchini) umbrella factory after the workers go on strike and take him hostage. To everyone's surprise, Suzanne proves herself to be a very competent leader of action. Her adult son and daughter also start to take more interest in the workings of the factory. Things get complex, however, when she bumps into her old flame and local politician, Maurice Babin (Gérard Depardieu), and her husband returns to take back his job.

Whenever a film of recent years, like this one, try to fully capture the feel and style of a 70's film (or anything retro) with editing, camera tricks, and colors reminiscent of that era, I can't help but smile. Had I not known that this film was made in 2010, I could have been convinced that this was a film made in that decade. Of course, this is aside from the dead giveaways to the contrary with the appearances of well-known French actors who have obviously aged.

Directed by François Ozon (Swimming Pool), this is a well-done, entertaining and visually attractive satire. A mixture of pastel and hot colors permeate throughout the film, along with bell-bottoms, retro hairstyles, design patterns, and clothing. The colorful umbrellas in the film are perhaps a good reminder of Deneuve's older, famous film, The Umbrellas of Cherbourg. The colorful, playful, comedic tone of this film remains consistent, yet there are just enough complexities in the plot to keep the film from getting dull. Advertisement

Admittedly, there's something rather monotonous about casual adulterous relationships in French films. It's almost expected in a French comedy (Unlike in America, French must find adultery sooooo funny). Robert has a mistress who is also his secretary, Nadège (Karin Viard), whom Suzanne knows about. Nevertheless, Suzanne is content with her life at home as Robert provides for her, materially. Once Robert is taken hostage and Suzanne takes over as manager of the company, the secretary becomes one of her closest allies. Meanwhile, her son Laurent (Jérémie Renier) and her daughter, Joëlle (Judith Godrèche), help out on the company as well, which does bring the family together more than before.

Catherine Deneuve is quite likable in this film. It's hard not to cheer for the initially soft-spoken Suzanne. She is a cheerful character with a certain naïve optimism that makes her charming to people around her. And, well, she gets things done. Once she is proved to be a fairer and better leader than Robert, one can't help but be engaged in what she will do next. There is a side story regarding her past affair with Maurice (Depardieu), who still has feelings for her. The relationship between them does not take a typical turn, which I appreciated. While Robert comes off mostly as a buffoonish character, he isn't portrayed as someone to be simply reviled, thankfully.

Overall, this is a colorfully entertaining, satirical film with playful characters and a nice retro style. Catherine Deneuve is a lot of fun to watch, and while this is not a subtle film by any means, it has enough energy and humor to be engaging throughout.

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Xst almighty, this film is one hell of a load of BS. Frankly, if you even contemplate going to see it, think again. Fat Catherine Deneurve and positively obese Depardieu do not compensate for a terrible script and awful retro 70's ambiance that isn't even true to life. So we're supposed to get the irony of the double dealing characters - all of whom do the dirty on the others at some point. Really, who exactly are you supposed to empathise with? The Neanderthal father and CEO of an umbrella firm that has his name but is supposedly the company set up by his wife's grandfather (whose name can't possibly have been that of her husband) - unless we have incest as well as all the other shenanigans. And the daughter, who complains to her mother about her being a slave in her marriage turns on her mother and votes for her father to take back the management of the firm so that her mostly absent husband can take her new (given to her by her mother) role at the firm. Oh come off it. This is truly crap - and not even believable crap.

Baccara & the Beegees in the soundtrack! Deneuve and Dépardieu doing the Night Fever dance! Squirrels! Hot truck drivers with sideburns! son Laurent who looks like Claude François, daughter Joelle with a Farrah Fawcett hairdo: this film gets a ten+ for the art direction and a 9 for the colourful cinematography.

As for Deneuve, in a role reminiscent of 8 Femmes' Gaby (2002 - she made 17 movies since!) is bubbly, sparkling and the stuff movie stars are made off - she sucks the viewer into the story.

Dépardieu, well is Dépardieu; Deneuve's husband played by Fabrice Luchini is the weak link in the story. He never comes off as a credible character. The kids' acting is alright, though they sometimes blend in with the wallpaper too much. It's just a bit too much visual and too little feeling.

Potiche is a Japanese flower pot and a merry housewife and Suzanne Pujol at first appears both. As the drama unfolds, there is more in Suzanne than we first thought. The story is like a soufflé, pleasant, fluffy and at risk to implode at times.

What perhaps should be a study about women's emancipation in the Seventies has more of a feel of a prequel to 'Dynasty a la Française', and a whiff of British comedy 'Are you being served?' thus making the viewer feel a bit iffy at times.

We saw this as the 5th movie at a film screening in the Netherlands, right after Des Hommes et dieux (of gods and men - the French Oscar submission); in that context the exuberant pastiche that made potiche was a welcome delicious dessert of our day of digesting the finest films. Go and see it!

Catherine Deneuve at 68 is what Oscar Wilde called "That horror of horrors, a Handsome Woman..." Well, life is hard and time pitiless. We can say that she looks alright "considering her age", but when you look at pictures of her gorgeous 20 years...,, and not to mention her partner in this movie, Gerard Depardieu... Mon Dieu! he's really in bad shape!!! worse even that Jack Nicholson and that is saying a lot!!!

He wears an open jacket (I think he gave up trying to button up because his stomach is enormous) and it's almost embarrassing to watch both of them in the night club scene, dancing "modern", I almost avoided looking at the screen. Pitiful. He's totally miscast. Deneuve, being better "preserved", is still fun to look at. Excellent actress and a very good movie.

Funny in a very french way --it seems that the french can produce these incredibly light movies with as much ease as they make those heavenly Crêpe Suzettes. And as tasty. A very good entertainment done in very nice colors and at the perfect pacing for such a light comedy. Fun to watch!

I first saw the French actress Catherine Deneuve in a movie in the English-language "Repulsion" in 1965 when she as just 22. Playing the 'trophy wife' of the title in this 2010 French film, Deneuve is 67 but still glamorous. When Suzanne Pujol's husband (Fabrice Luchini) - a sexist partner and a harsh boss - has to absent himself from his 300-employee umbrella factory for health reasons, she takes over and transforms both the industrial relations and the business performance of the plant with a sensitive feminine touch that makes full use of her connections including the local mayor (Gérard Depardieu).

Set in 1977 and a comedy, this is an old-fashioned and very light work that lacks any subtlety or nuance with writer and director François Ozon simply satiring both the factory owner and his trade unions (CFDT and UGT).

While the movie has been used for the orange ads (in the UK, they took the trailer I think and put English subtitles that make it look like an ad), it is far more than that. Then again it might be less than you expect, considering the director. But it is a very "normal" movie for Ozon, so don't expect anything to crazy.

Still the story is good, the actors are very good and it is a good comedy overall. The title does get explained in the movie too. And our lead actress might need a push, but you will see that she is anything but a potiche. And I guess the theme of strong women is something that you can always expect from Ozon (so there is something to recognize him by).

It's 1977. Suzanne Pujol (Catherine Deneuve) is a restless housewife. Her husband Robert runs her family's umbrella factory badly and dismisses Suzanne. He has workers strife, financial malfeasance, and mistresses. He gets taken captive by the workers and Suzanne comes out of the kitchen to save him. Robert has a heart attack and hospitalized. Suzanne with old flame Maurice Babin (Gérard Depardieu) and her children Joëlle and Laurent work to end the strike and fix the company. Maurice is a former union leader and the local mayor. Joëlle has marriage problems of her own and sees her mother as nothing more than a happy housewife. Laurent is a leftist artist. When Robert recovers, he and Suzanne end up fighting for the company.

Catherine Deneuve is wonderful doing a few different roles of her character. I like her story. I can do without Maurice. He's a distraction and I don't like where the movie goes in the third act. I would have liked for her to stay with the company. It seems to take a slightly wrong turn. The drama starts with the company and should end with the company. It's also a missed opportunity to have fun with the employees. There is one fun scene with the union but the movie doesn't add to it. This is a good woman-power movie but it's got a few problems.

I enjoyed Catherine Deneuve's performance in this worm that turns comedy. She's "Suzanne" - the self-acknowledged "trophy wife" of local factory owner and serial cheater "Robert" (Fabrice Luchini). Their son "Laurent" (Jérémie Renier - reminded me a lot of Michael York) has little interest in what goes on and has a girlfriend in Paris, their daughter "Joëlle" (Judith Godrèche) has ambitions to succeed her father in business. It's that business that provides the fulcrum for the story as the workers go on strike and after a contretemps with communist local mayor "Babin" (Gérard Depardieu) "Robert" has a seizure. It's now that "Suzanne" has to step up and run the business. It was originally her father's, and it turns out that she isn't half bad at it. They are selling umbrellas to Indonesia in increasing numbers. When he returns to fitness, "Robert" wants his job back but finds he's been outmanoeuvred. His wife has it now and she's staying. What now ensues is a rather daft family comedy that looks like it's making the story up as it goes along. Sometimes the family scenarios are a bit contrived - clearly "Suzanne" has a bit of a past, too - but there is a fun chemistry between her and the underused but still quite effective Depardieu and the denouement delivers a fine example of the shrewd thinking and power dressing. It's a situation comedy, really, but still good.

Of course I was a bit on the defensive having tickets for a film starring several famous actors with a long history in major roles, like Catherine Deneuve and Gerard Depardieu. Though fearing a sort of reliving-past-glories event, embarrassing for actors and viewers alike, it was a relief that I was proved wrong in my expectations. My final conclusion is that the film is entertaining throughout, after starting a bit weak. As a result it will entertain a large population of viewers.

The only minus points I have lie in the first 15 minutes. Especially the opening scene did not bode well for the rest. We see Catherine jogging and interacting with animals. Subsequently, in the same 15 minutes, my worst feelings seemed further confirmed because of a few scenes with family members. It showed a lot of overly emphasized role playing, each doing his very best to highlight the bad elements of their respective characters.

Past that opening exposition of main characters, the story took off and kept us all awake for the remainder of the time. What happens with the members of the family and the people around them, is very diverse and full of surprises. None of it can possibly be predicted.

An array of developments and complications unfold. All of these build on the good and bad psychological properties shown earlier, together making up the main character roles. In spite of what I said before, we see that aforementioned opening scenes are paying back, after all. The overacting that I observed in the opening scenes, may be only my imagination, being the result of my initial (wrong) attitude.

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.

I saw this at a Catherine Deneuve film retrospective, this being the only new film that was shown. There were about 1200 people in this huge theatre and we were all laughing out loud almost all the way through. Perhaps, because I am the same age as Deneuve, I could identify with her character more and I don't have any nitpicking to do with the movie's pace or plot. It did get off slowly in the beginning but that was essential to set the characters so that their various twists and turns could then seem out of character. The story line is really unimportant here - it is the small interactions among the characters as well as the large ones, the surprises that lay in store for us as the situation unfolds, and the comic timing that accompanies the story's contortions that make it so darn funny. Some characters are overdrawn to the point of being ridiculous - that is it would be ridiculous in a serious drama. But this is a comedy with not a few semi-slapstick elements. Depardieu is a kick and Deneuve is at the top of her game. See this!

The French 70s. Factory occupations, managers being locked up, strikes and a strong communist party.

This umbrella factory manager doesn't have an easy life, but he takes his revenge in mistreating his trophy wife, the "Potiche". She gets her revenge to, when the manager gets a heart attack, including renewed connection with her old lover, the communist mayor.

The problem is the acting. Dépardieu is doing the same character he has done during too many movies now and Deneuve is not trustworthy. When French movie makers try to show us people in different states of being ridiculous, they seldom succeed. This is not 1977, it's a failed try to reborn it in 2011.

Unfortunately this movie is one of these movies you just want to forget about it. As usual Dépardieu saves the movie to get the pass (well the pass... 4/10), but the rest of the crew are quite dull in any sense.

The comedy is inspired in 1977/1978 in France, in the rise of the feminist. It will be nice if the director uses the 70's as a good scenario, but instead he only displays few 1970's cars and does it.

The poor sense of humor makes the movie almost unwatchable.

In the last years I have watched almost 300 movies, this is one of the worst.

Gabriel Renom

Potiche is a delightful French comedy from Francois Ozon (director of Simming Pool) starring Catherine Deneuve and Gerard Depardieu. There is gentle humour but with the style and lightness of touch that one would expect from our European cousins across La Manche. Deneuve and Depardieu are highly watchable, and well supported by the rest of the cast, but it is very much support with Catherine and Gerard at the centre of attention. The plot meanders somewhat, but this need not be a bad thing as it allows some breathing space to take in the beautiful production design that puts the film firmly in mid 1970's France. I cannot help thinking of a comparison with Carry On At Your Convenience as a double bill that would highlight the differences between British and French humour, not to mention culture. That is obviously unfair, since Carry On... was a product of the actual 70's, rather than a film made in 2010 and looking back, but if nothing else Potiche should be taken as a recommendation to go and seek out French comedies of all ages.