Madame

This is totally a Rossy de palma's Movie. She takes the cake with her awesome performance be it the comic timing or the seriousness of her character. Toni and Harvey fo good jobs in their roles. But sadly the ending was too disappointing. I mean it could have been better. Overall worth a watch though.

A film that looks at the relationship between employer and employee. It has several funny scenes but it's easy to choke on the laughter since the story feels a bit too real at times. I enjoyed it and even if there's some nasty bits I think the film has a positive vibe

Well I am annoyed. Just watched the movie, and what was a pretty good film had a really crappy ending. Toni is a real hypocrite and total bitch in the movie, you really want her utter snobbery to be her undoing. Problem with trying to make a movie like French Cinema, is that it is unsatisfying for an American audience. The ending is plain bad. I gave the movie a 6/10, that seems fair to me, since it goes nowhere and the ending is just not good. Really annoys me to see a good movie end so badly. Worth watching for Harvey Keitel, but I totally hated the character Toni Collete is playing, she is without mercy and an utter snob. Ironic that she claims to be a Democrat in the movie. The Director should have delivered a better ending. Can't believe that's it.

This film tells the story of a maid who fills in as a guest in her employer's dinner party. A wealthy art dealer falls for her, and a tricky situation ensues.

Even though it is a comedy, I actually feel bittersweet. It is great that the maid has her moments to shine, but I really hoped for that particular ending. After all, as a character in the film says, everyone hopes for it, so I certainly hope for it too. It is funny in the beginning but changes drastically in the end.

I feel that 'Madame' needs a few words spoken in its defence.

Trying to keep this as spoiler-free as possible, this is a lovely, bitter-sweet little dramedy, unusual in its ending. And this latter element is precisely what is charming about it. It is not just another Disney-like, implausible, 'Cinderella' story of the type Hollywood throws up at us with admirable frequency. Though by far not a masterpiece, and in search of a character, being not quite a drama, nor quite a comedy, the ending makes it stand out.

In my view, the ending is perfect precisely because it is more realistic, it feels more real. Characters who live in a false world (keeping thin by forcefully throwing up, or organising luxurious parties while being on the verge of bankruptcy) remain in their false world, continuing to suffer in their gilded cages. Is that not the perfect punishment? People who were always dignified, who had self-respect and a certain untouched morality, retain their dignity, their esteem, in their own eyes, and in the eyes of the audience. Is that not an effective ending? It is not necessary to always have the same reversal of roles, easily served, and so easily digested, dispensed with, and forgotten.

Every time a script goes outside the usual, overused Hollywood trope, audiences start to bitch and moan at how awful this is, how unsatisfied they are. I have a strong feeling, that if it had the ending everyone is so anxious for, these same people would say: 'Well, where's the novelty in that? We've seen that before'.

Haven't we seen enough 'Maids in Manhattan'? Do we really need yet another fairly empty romance story with the usual players - the low-born or low-placed but (always!) beautiful girl, the quirky, but ridiculous best friend, the rich and powerful stud who crosses the social divide for love? Such films are sweet, but outside their very narrow romantic premise, sweet as that may be, they say very little either about society, or about the people in it, their character, their self-perception, their understanding of the world around them. 'Madame' has something to say about these things. It says it with much less panache than 'Remains of the Day', but it is closer to the real world of today than other romantic comedies.

No, I do not consider 'Madame' a masterpiece. Nor do I feel it wants to be such. If its aims are modest, they are still interesting and valid, and if the satire and social commentary are modest, this does not make them necessarily less effective, or less intelligent.

Perhaps giving it a 7 is too generous (or, depending on ones perspective and understanding, not generous enough). Yet I feel the ending does merit recognition, and if I gave the rest a six, the ending pulls in a star on its own.