According to the description and critical reviews, one would think that "My Piece of the Pie" is about class issues, and how a single mother (France), dropped from the payroll because her company in Dunkirk has been wrecked by financial manipulation in high places, fights back.Most of the movie is a set-up for the hasty and unpleasant conclusion. This set-up is very well done (therefore 3 stars), and one has expectations for a satisfactory resolution. The heroine seeks temporary employment as a housekeeper in Paris, and near the conclusion discovers that her wealthy and self-centered employer (Steve) not only has taken advantage of her sexually, but was actually one of the financial wizards responsible for destroying the Dunkirk company she worked for originally.At this point, the tale goes downhill very fast and crashes at the bottom.The way heroine France fights back is to impulsively kidnap Steve's adorable son Alban, who has been entrusted to her care. Furthermore, when Steve arrives with police to rescue the son, she and other Dunkirk workers resist and physically assault the young financier. Not only does she break the law, but her former co-workers will certainly be in legal hot water as well. Why would they become involved? Kidnapping children, whatever the rationale, is a particularly heinous crime. The darkness of this ending eclipses any lessons about class conflict or capitalist predation, and deflects attention from Steve and his questionable antics. In my opinion, this plot needs major rework on its conclusion to merit film critic Amy Taubin's curious rating as "Brilliant Social Satire".

Leftie social comedy.Are there any French movie directors that aren't left of Che Guevara? This leftie social comedy was entertaining to me because I liked the bad guys--the British Hedge fund founder was priceless.Although well filmed and watchable--the leftie political stuff comes at you like a non stop jack hammer and mostly ruins it. It is the story of driven greedy financiers and the out of luck (all good of course) workers of companies closed by these ruthless villains.The working class is represented by Karin Viard playing France LeRoi * (The King) and the hedge fund types by Gilles Lellouche as Steve Delarue * (literally from the street). France is thrown out of work and attempts suicide when her company is taken over and looted by the financiers including Delarue. She gets herself together and lands a job as a house keeper for Delarue. He eventually beds her and she overhears him bragging about it on the phone--angry and hurt (they have fallen for each other) she kidnaps his son and forces him to come pick him up and see the human damage his financial deals cause.In the end the workers attack the police who have arrested France and take after Delarue to lynch him.Even though a comedy this movie is 50 shades too political to really enjoy unless you do what I did and cheer on the villains. For this reason it got a 4.

My Piece of the Pie (2011)You're going to want to like this movie because at first it seems like a love story waiting to happen, then it seems like the perfect revenge story waiting to happen. But neither is quite true, and the pieces never quite hang together for a great totality.The conflict is built around an unlikely but likable coincidence—a man hires a woman to take care of his apartment and child and it turns out she once worked for a company he helped ruin. That is, she's stuck cleaning houses because of him. That's something withheld in fact until near the end of the movie, but you see it coming, and the clash of cultures is there even as they tentatively fall in love (at least physically).This kind of meeting of spirits in unlikely ways is good foundation. And the woman in particular is a complex, interesting type, well acted. So the whole unfolding is pretty fun, and there are some quirks and personalities as you go that make it believable even when it shouldn't be.What happens near the end is a climax that should have been terrific, a kind of great resolution and happy conclusion. But it's more ambitious than the director can pull off and it comes off stumbling and almost ludicrous, even though you know what the intentions are. I picture it in their heads as a beautiful final finale, and ideally it would have been astounding. Just be prepared for a sudden turn of events by the end and a deflation.Or just don't worry and go for the ride. The process of getting there is fairly enjoyable, as is. It's a lightweight movie overall with an air of improbability that is meant to make you smile. Maybe it will.

Puzzled by the negative reviews of this truly amazing movie about class issues - the way wealthy people live in a "virtual world" where real people are somehow not affected by their decisions to make more money based on the flick of a button on a computer. The film is about how poor people have a necessary need to come together and fight back. Her decision to take the child to Dunkirk in order to get him to face what he has done (buying a business in order to destroy it; shades of Mitt Romney at Bain Capital) allows the community to come together to try to protect her. It's also important to notice that the police are used for repressive purposes to help those in power and not to help those who are hurting.The performances are top-notch, especially Karin Viard as France. She is bold, impulsive, not always nice, bright, intuitive, curious - a fully rounded woman trying to cope with dire economic circumstances.Far from lazy, Cedric Klapisch does a fantastic job of moving back & forth between two very different worlds of haves and have-nots - in fact, I found myself completely engrossed in both worlds inhabited in this film.My interest didn't lag for a single moment. I highly recommend that you see for yourselves and look at it from the p.o.v. not of "reality", but of possibility. I absolutely loved this movie!!! (: Enjoy!