The Ax

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Audience Member So thrilled and wet hands. How condition affects the minds. Rated 3/5 Stars •  Rated 3 out of 5 stars 02/04/23 Full Review Audience Member Tense little suspenser that isn't as powerful in its social commentary as Z or The Confession, but still has that classic Gavras wit and never lets itself get bogged down in overexplanation. Rated 4/5 Stars •  Rated 4 out of 5 stars 01/14/23 Full Review Audience Member Black comedy that wants badly to be "delicious" but instead sputters along, dragging out its point long after we "get it". Not that Costa-Gavras has made a bad film here, just one that could have been punchier and more incisive. José Garcia plays a paper company executive who is let go when his company downsizes and relocates to Romania; after being out of work for 2 years, he stumbles on the brilliant idea of collecting résumés from the competition (other unemployed ex-paper company execs) and then killing the best of the lot. We see several of these murders staged for presumably comic effect. At the end of the line is the current occupant of the coveted job played expertly by Dardenne Bros. favourite, Olivier Gourmet. Along for the ride are spouse Karin Viard (trying her best to hold things together) and two kids, one of whom seems to be following in criminal footsteps. (The family drama unfolds around the central action and sometimes distracts from it). Costa-Gavras wants us to see how inhumanely people are treated in the age of corporate competition but that joke isn't funny anymore. Still, there might be a sharper film buried here somewhere; Garcia is a Jack Lemmon-like figure and he carries the weight of the picture fairly well. Rated 3/5 Stars •  Rated 3 out of 5 stars 02/04/23 Full Review Audience Member Just amazing!!!!!!!!!!! Rated 4.5/5 Stars •  Rated 4.5 out of 5 stars 02/19/23 Full Review Audience Member My pick as Costa-Gavras's best film, Le Couperet works simultaneously as a provocative thriller and a clever black comedy about corporate hypocrisy. Gavras directs with attention given to style and pace and the script is intelligent and multilayerd. Jose Garcia is also a great protagonist as he is able to make a sympathetic and intriguing performance as the films greatest hero and villain. If you like thrillers, or jet black comedies, this movie delivers the goods in both regards. Rated 4/5 Stars •  Rated 4 out of 5 stars 01/20/23 Full Review Audience Member Humor and Noir go hand in hand in this film about how seriously a man can take job hunting... Rated 4/5 Stars •  Rated 4 out of 5 stars 01/26/23 Full Review Read all reviews

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