Film Review: Potiche [dir. François Ozon; 2010]

There's nothing like a bit of political incorrectness to get you chuckling, especially when it's in French, it features Deneuve and Depardieu and it treats its audience with intelligence. Poking fun at the gender politics (and the clothes!) of the 70s is probably quite easy, but Ozon stops his story from descending into predictability with a well-judged series of gentle twists and surprises. His chief asset is Deneuve. Playing the trophy wife of the title, she uses her trademark inscrutability to add just the right amount of weight to this story of a woman who takes over her husband's umbrella factory and discovers she's got a formidable business brain on her shoulders. Frothy, amiable fun.