Potiche 2010

James Rocchi, MSN Movies: You don't need to know the original material or French politics to enjoy Ozon's latest. You just need an appreciation for human folly... Read more

A.O. Scott, New York Times: You suspect, before long, that there is no strong reason for this production to exist, but it is reasonably good fun all the same. Read more

Keith Uhlich, Time Out: It's hard to resist La Deneuve's charms, especially during the film's climax, when she sings about "how beautiful life is." If this grande dame of cinema says it, it must be true. Read more

John Anderson, Wall Street Journal: "Potiche" would be easy to dismiss if it weren't so tartly funny at times and if Mr. Ozon weren't up to mischief. Read more

Moira MacDonald, Seattle Times: "Potiche" is a pleasant, occasionally musical romp, and a welcome chance for Deneuve to carry a movie. Read more

Noel Murray, AV Club: Returns Ozon to the colorful, energetic retro-homage of his musical 8 Women, and it's his most purely enjoyable movie in nearly a decade. Read more

Richard Nilsen, Arizona Republic: "Potiche" is a frothy French confection, a sort of ile flottante of movies. Read more

Ty Burr, Boston Globe: A star vehicle in which the star is everything and the vehicle is nearly an afterthought, and only a legend extending her time on film with pleasure and grace could make that worth your while. Read more

Tom Long, Detroit News: Potiche is a French sex farce with a time warp feminist message that's more odd than entertaining or enlightening. Read more

Lisa Schwarzbaum, Entertainment Weekly: There's ticklish amusement in the sight of Deneuve going all retro while her chauvinist pig of a husband (French cinema stalwart Fabrice Luchini) paws his secretary at his umbrella factory. Read more

Deborah Young, Hollywood Reporter: Potiche has plenty of contemporary sparkle and life, courtesy of a masterful central performance by grande dame Catherine Deneuve as an oppressed bourgeois housewife who finds liberation. Read more

Kenneth Turan, Los Angeles Times: "Potiche" is a glossy throwback made with a modern eye, an old-fashioned romantic fantasy starring Catherine Deneuve and Gerard Depardieu that's been knowingly updated with tart, contemporary touches. Read more

Rene Rodriguez, Miami Herald: The film's main draw, though, is old-fashioned star power -- particularly that of the luminescent Deneuve, whose screen aura only burns brighter with every passing year. Read more

David Denby, New Yorker: Dreadful. Read more

Stephen Whitty, Newark Star-Ledger: This isn't just a film set in the '70s. It feels like a '70s film we're only now getting to see. Read more

Bob Mondello, NPR: Catherine Deneuve radiates enough intelligence on-screen to be no one's idea of a mere trophy wife, but she makes a brave stab at playing one in Francois Ozon's brightly hued boulevard comedy. Read more

Elizabeth Weitzman, New York Daily News: Neither Francophiles nor film fans could ask for anything more than Francois Ozon's latest, a charming comedy that showcases its iconic stars, Catherine Deneuve and Gerard Depardieu. Read more

V.A. Musetto, New York Post: You can't blame the stars, who after all these years go together like, say, love and marriage. It's just that the script, which Ozon adapted from a play, is lightweight and better-suited to stage than screen. Read more

Rex Reed, New York Observer: Delightfully relevant, [Deneuve] gets her best role in years, and she plays it to the hilt. Read more

Steven Rea, Philadelphia Inquirer: [It's] light, larky stuff. But the underlying message of empowerment and equality is nothing to sneeze at. Read more

James Berardinelli, ReelViews: Deneuve is unquestionably the single most compelling reason to see this production. Read more

Roger Ebert, Chicago Sun-Times: It has been years since I sensed that Catherine Deneuve and Gerard Depardieu were acting. Read more

Andrew O'Hehir, Salon.com: Ozon apparently delights in making every possible kind of movie, often several at the same time. Read more

Mick LaSalle, San Francisco Chronicle: It's funny, broad and never stops moving. It's made to please, and succeeds. Read more

Colin Covert, Minneapolis Star Tribune: It's a cheeky female revenge fantasy that plays out even in the casting. Read more

Calvin Wilson, St. Louis Post-Dispatch: If you're looking for a frothy comedy, "Potiche" definitely has its charms. Read more

Rick Groen, Globe and Mail: The film is still worth watching, and the one fabulous reason why can be summed up in two celebrated words: Catherine Deneuve. Read more

Leah Rozen, TheWrap: One doesn't have to be familiar with Deneuve's body of work to enjoy Potiche, but it sure adds to the experience if you are. Read more

David Jenkins, Time Out: It's as light and soft as a pink satin pillow, and a little overstretched, but it's also packed with bawdy zingers and pointed political barbs. Read more

Peter Howell, Toronto Star: A charming diversion from Ozon's more serious films of late. Read more

Boyd van Hoeij, Variety: Francois Ozon effortlessly moves back to the mainstream with another sparkling, occasionally side-splitting adaptation of a French boulevard-theater play. Read more

Karina Longworth, Village Voice: Like its heroine, Potiche is deceptively lightweight, its camp screwball fizziness giving way to a surprisingly cogent feminist parable, in which the personal proves again and again to be the most volatile variable in the political. Read more

Mark Jenkins, Washington Post: Fortunately, for both Ozon and the viewer, the title character is played by Catherine Deneuve, who can very nearly carry a film by herself. Read more