Comedy Of Power

Title notwithstanding, there's nothing particularly funny about this political drama from the tireless Claude Chabrol, a veteran of the French Nouvelle Vague whose cold and often cruel psychological thrillers have earned him comparisons to his spiritual mentor Alfred Hitchcock. It is, however, quite entertaining, thanks mostly to a delicious performance from Chabrol favorite Isabelle Huppert. She plays the aptly named Jeanne Charmant-Killman, a hard-nosed, indefatigable investigating judge who helped engineer an indictment against Michel Humeau (Francois Berleand), a corrupt chairman of a large government agency whose job was supposed to be insuring France's economic...