Movie Reviews for Merci Pour le Chocolat

Merci Pour le Chocolat

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Movie Reviews of Merci Pour le Chocolat

Movie Review: A sleek and entertaining thriller with the great Huppert
Summary: 4 Stars

This French psychological thriller by former new-wave auteur, Claude Chabrol follows a famous pianist Andre Polonksi, his wife Mika (Isabelle Huppert) a chocolate heiress whose never without a menacing cup of hot chocolate, and a radiant young pianist who believes herself to be Polonski's long lost daughter. Huppert's Mika makes for a fierce portrayal of perverse matriarchy and like her emotionally scarred woman in the Piano Teacher, she is melancholically aware enough of her perversity to jolt the audience with a twinge of sympathy. The movie's biggest asset, however, may be that Chabrol skillfully lets you in on its secret immediately. From the beginning, there is no doubt that Mika poisons people with hot chocolate, and by revealing such, I'm not taking anything away from the enjoyment of the film. Its pleasures arrive via the compelling characters, taut dialogue, beautiful upper-class French locales, and sleekly edited progression of events, giving the movie considerable repeat value. Hence why the final denouement is not (and should not be) as fun as simply watching these characters seek, calculate, and kill.

Movie Review: A Fine psych thriller!
Summary: 4 Stars

This film is a fine cup of dark chocolate, rich of suspense and bitter with calculation. The umpredictable turns of this plot and its cast had me writing down this movie on my wish list.

Optimal!

Movie Review: Wonderful, brilliant Huppert
Summary: 3 Stars

I first encountered Isabelle Huppert in LE PIANISTE, and was excitedly anticipating this film. Her ability to communicate repressed rage and a rigid adherence to social convention is awe-inspiring. She never turns the facade into a cliche, even in this unsympathetic role. She is just as wonderful in this film as in THE PIANO TEACHER, although her characters are quite different.

This one, Mika, is not as fully developed and explored. Director Charbol merely gives you a taste of the morbid, paranoid, obsessive and ultimately violent character. Huppert delicately conceals the true Mika behind the practiced visage of the wealthy and socially-connected corporate executive. No overt smugness or irony reveals to you the true depth of her anti-social sentiment, self-loathing, and hatred.

The film notes only glibly discusses the character (as aflicted by "perversion"), and I think the film itself only approaches her, never exploring or embracing her. There is something more complex at work than the corruption or debasement perversion implies. The full-blown personality disorder on display gives us a glimpse of the "non-persons" lacking the ego, or sense of personhood, that makes their 'normal' (often perfectionist) behavior calculated mimicry. We catch only a glimpse of that her, I believe.

Although I'm only giving it three stars, I still think this is a fascinating movie well worth seeing (I won't belabor the "Hitchcockian Tradition" rhetoric). Isabelle Huppert is brilliant, and this performance should be savored. However, its pretentiously abrupt ending, as well as its inability to successfully incorporate the piano element (the portentous use of Liszt's "Funérailles" seemed ineffective to me) detracted from the overall impact.

Movie Review: What's sweet now turns so sour...
Summary: 3 Stars

There was a time when you couldn't swing a wedge of cave-aged gruyere around at the theatre without hitting yet another "Hitchcockian" French thriller (circa "The Bride Wore Black"). Apparently, the Gallic thrall with all things Hitchcock (and Jerry Lewis) continues unabated, as evidenced by "Merci Pour Le Chocolat". Isabelle Huppert, as the central character, deadpans her way through a twisty little family tale that falls somewhere between "Prince & The Pauper" and "Serial Mom". I agree with other reviewers that the abrupt denouement was an unfortunate choice by the director, as it cheapens the intrigue of the setup. What you're left with would have made a perfect 45-minute teleplay, perhaps a segment on the old "Night Gallery" program or "Alfred Hitchcock Presents", but not really feature-length material. Good performances from an earnest cast make this one worth a look on a slow night, but (excuse my French) it ain't no "Family Plot"!