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TIP TOP IS THE FRENCH CRIME/SEX POLICE DRAMEDY YOU DIDN'T KNOW YOU WANTED
The Village Voice
Dec 10 2014
By Alan Scherstuhl
Serge Bozon's smart, surprising, marvelously realized French
crime-and-sex police drama/comedy distinguishes itself with trenchant
plotting, inspired framing, and performances that honor true human
feeling even as they lunge into the screwball.
The leads, both cops investigating murder and possible police
corruption, are flawed and fascinating women played with sharp-elbowed
wit by Isabelle Huppert and Sandrine Kiberlain. The case is complex
and satisfying, involving a police snitch in a small town's Armenian
community, and Bozon is biting -- and a bit heartsick -- on the topic
of the cops' relationship with local Muslims.
But what stings and pleases most, here, is the odd-couple lead: brisk,
brusque Huppert, commanding and pitiless, not caring how accidentally
rude she is to her new partner (Kiberlain), a shy, sly Peeping Tom
very excited to go undercover as a very available woman.
A barbed friendship develops, especially when the two discover each
other's taste for kink: Huppert's alpha likes getting roughed up in
the sack, Kiberlain's beta is eager to try it -- and, in the meantime,
she ogles the ludicrously hunky chap who washes dishes shirtless in
a kitchen window across from her hotel room, the vision a hilarious
gender-flip on those scenes of Susan Sarandon citrusing herself
in Atlantic City. Bozon's first feature in seven years showcases a
once-promising director now in full flourish, crafting singular work.
http://www.villagevoice.com/2014-12-10/film/tip-top/
The Village Voice
Dec 10 2014
By Alan Scherstuhl
Serge Bozon's smart, surprising, marvelously realized French
crime-and-sex police drama/comedy distinguishes itself with trenchant
plotting, inspired framing, and performances that honor true human
feeling even as they lunge into the screwball.
The leads, both cops investigating murder and possible police
corruption, are flawed and fascinating women played with sharp-elbowed
wit by Isabelle Huppert and Sandrine Kiberlain. The case is complex
and satisfying, involving a police snitch in a small town's Armenian
community, and Bozon is biting -- and a bit heartsick -- on the topic
of the cops' relationship with local Muslims.
But what stings and pleases most, here, is the odd-couple lead: brisk,
brusque Huppert, commanding and pitiless, not caring how accidentally
rude she is to her new partner (Kiberlain), a shy, sly Peeping Tom
very excited to go undercover as a very available woman.
A barbed friendship develops, especially when the two discover each
other's taste for kink: Huppert's alpha likes getting roughed up in
the sack, Kiberlain's beta is eager to try it -- and, in the meantime,
she ogles the ludicrously hunky chap who washes dishes shirtless in
a kitchen window across from her hotel room, the vision a hilarious
gender-flip on those scenes of Susan Sarandon citrusing herself
in Atlantic City. Bozon's first feature in seven years showcases a
once-promising director now in full flourish, crafting singular work.
http://www.villagevoice.com/2014-12-10/film/tip-top/