Nightcap (2002)

Claude Chabrol, a man that has distinguished himself for showing the nasty things people do one another, is at it again. Although "Merci pour le chocolat" is not one of his best contributions to the genre, it has a subtlety that shows he is was still up to his tricks when he made this movie.Mika Muller, was married briefly to the man she now calls her husband, the weary-eyed Andre Polonsky, a talented pianist. Mika loves to prepare chocolate, a specialty she has known well, being as she is, connected to the industry. She also loves to lace her brews with a substance that will induce sleeping to whoever she wants to get rid of. Andre's second wife suffered a fatal accident after drinking the chocolate Mika prepared for her, and got her and Andre back together again.Mika gets a dislike for Jeanne Pollet, a piano student, who suspects that Andre is her father. This theory is the result of the revelation that Jeanne's mother tells her about having been switched momentarily at birth with Axel, the son of Andre and his late wife. In fact, Jeanne sees a possibility in her theory because, like Andre, she has a passion for the piano, while Axel shows no interest. The best thing in the film is Isabelle Huppert, who makes another one of her memorable screen characters come alive. One can see in her face the emotions Mika is experiencing. This actress gives a seamless performance about the evil woman who has gone above and beyond to destroy lives. Anna Mouglalis also made an impression as Jeanne, the young woman who solves the puzzle and is, at the same time, an almost victim of the possessed Mika. Jacques Dutronc plays Andre.Another interesting Claude Chabrol film that will please his fans.

This film dares to be different, and I can really respect that. The film is about a young lady who introjects herself into the lives of a nearby family. Why this occurs really isn't all that important. However, once involved, she stumbles on the idea that the wife in this family is drugging their hot cocoa. Throughout the film, we learn that she is actually the second wife--the first one died from a combination of alcohol and a sedative while driving. When the girl discovers this, she combines her knowledge that the lady had put drugs in the cocoa and realizes she probably murdered the first wife.All this is really interesting and makes for a thriller getting a score of 8 or 9 on IMDb EXCEPT FOR ONE STUPID PLOT DEVICE--how could this young lady have possibly guessed that the cocoa was drugged? It just doesn't make logical sense and she barely knew the family when she had this suspicion. PLUS, incredibly enough, her own boyfriend boyfriend just happens to work at the lab owned by her own mother so he can test a sample to prove that it was tainted. Oh, and minor miracle of minor miracles, the lab just HAPPENS to be a forensics lab. What an amazing coincidence!!!!! Please--next time, show a little more respect for the intelligence of the audience and don't let silly plot elements like this negatively influence an otherwise excellent film! Wow--and this film came so close to being great.Oh, and one other comment. Isabelle Huppert's performance in the film at times appears to be that of a zombie. She stares off into space a lot and when confronted she just sits there. I would have expected that when a murderer is confronted ALONE that there would be a fair likelihood that the murderer would then kill the person who confronted them (or at least make an attempt)--but not this time.

This movie was a waste of time. It looks nice, pretty settings, nicely acted, appears earnest and seems to be leading somewhere so you stay tuned awaiting a meaningful payoff. It doesn't happen. It surprised me that so much effort could be put into a movie, it was clearly very professionally done, and have an outcome that seems nothing short of a b-movie.Save your precious time and see a good french film like Les Visiteurs (funny), Jean de Florette or Manon of the Spring. I can't recall the language in Europa Europa, but that's another Great film--heavy but very worth viewing.This film appears to promise a lot but delivers nothing.

As most French movies, there is more emphasis in the interpersonal relations than action. An interesting plot develops and it seems to have a lot of potential. Unfortunately it leads to a very predictable outcome.Maybe the American remake will capitalize on this weakness and give us at the end the suspense it could have achieved.I enjoyed the traveling, the destination was disappointing.