It's hard to see any effort in the film. There's no comedy to speak of, no real drama and, worst of all.

There are better movies of two hours length. I loved the actress'performance.

While it is a pity that the story wasn't told with more visual finesse, this is trivial compared to our real-world problems. It takes a good movie to put that into perspective.

what a terribly boring film. I'm sorry but this is absolutely not deserving of best picture and will be forgotten quickly. Entertaining and engaging cinema? No. Nothing performances with flat faces and mistaking silence for subtlety.

Sandra has been off work with depression and just as she feels she is ready to return she learns has been made redundant. It emerges that while she was away her fellow workers slightly increased their work time to cover for her than, at the suggestion her boss and supervisor they held a ballot to decide whether to each get a 1000 Euro bonus and let Sandra go or to let her return. Under pressure from the supervisor most voted to let her go. A friend tells her that the ballot is to be re-run in two days so she sets off to persuade enough of her colleagues to change their minds. Each has their reason for voting to let her go and most need the money; some are persuaded, some apologise but explain that they can't afford to back her and one or two actually get violent accusing her of trying to 'steal' their bonus. As the end approaches it is clear that the vote will be very close; will Sandra get the numbers she needs or will she fall short?When I started watching this I knew nothing about it beyond the fact that it starred Marion Cotillard and was Belgian as it was a last minute replacement for a previously advertised TV programme. This lack of knowledge did make it a little hard to get into but as the film progressed I started to sympathise with Sandra's plight. As we meet her colleagues it is also easy to sympathise with most of them too; they need the extra pay if not quite as much as she needs her job. The more people she visited the more it looked as if she stands a chance of success to by the end there is a feeling of tension when the vote takes place. The cast does a solid job, especially Marion Cotillard who is rarely off screen as Sandra and really makes the viewer feel for her character. There are a few details that seem unlikely; I don't know about Belgian labour laws but it seems unreasonably that a workforce could be given a vote on whether they want a bonus or to let a colleague on sick leave return to work. Sandra also makes a remarkable recovery following a 'medical issue'. Overall though this is worth watching if you want a character driven drama without lots of action. I suspect I would have enjoyed it more if I'd known a little more about it before I started watching.These comments are based on watching the film in French with English subtitles.

I mainly found out about this Belgian-French-Italian film because of the leading actress being nominated during awards season, I had no idea what it was about, I was just hoping for something worthwhile, directed by brothers Jean-Pierre Dardenne and Luc Dardenne (Rosetta, The Kid with a Bike). Basically in the industrial town of Seraing, near Liège, Belgium, Sandra Bya (Oscar nominated Marion Cotillard) is a young wife and mother to two children, she works for Solwal, a small solar- panel factory. After suffering a nervous breakdown, Sandra has been forced to take time off from her job, on medical leave for depression. During Sandra's absence, shop foreman and her immediate supervisor Jean- Marc (Olivier Gourmet) suggests to the boss, M. Dumont (Batiste Sornin), that her section of the company can function with sixteen people working full time with a bit of overtime. The management proposes a €1,000 bonus to all staff if they agree to make Sandra redundant, near the end of her medical leave she returns to work and discovers that her fate rests in the hands of her sixteen co-workers. Sandra's friend and co-worker Juliette (Catherine Salée) learns a "show of hands" vote was held, the result a 13-3 decision for the bonuses over Sandra's job, Juliette knows Jean-Marc is determined to get rid of Sandra. The vote was influenced by scare mongering through misinformation, but Juliette and Sandra at the end of the Friday working day are to convince Dumont to hold another secret ballot on Monday morning. Sandra needs a majority to keep her job, meaning nine votes, by Saturday morning, Sandra's supportive husband Manu (Fabrizio Rongione) convinces her that over the weekend she should speak to all thirteen of her colleagues who voted for the bonuses to get them to change their minds. They not only need the income from Sandra's job, but Manu believes the job is a symbol for Sandra, to prove her own self worth and for her mental state. Sandra reluctantly goes about this task, visiting and finding her colleagues one by one, most of the co-workers however need the proposed bonus for their own families. Finally it comes to Monday morning, the factory workers have a second ballot, but the vote is tied, with eight votes to keep the bonus and eight for Sandra to leave, as a result, Sandra will lose her position. However, the factory manager calls Sandra into his office, he agrees to give her a job, but in the end, she decides to turn it down, Sandra has found the emotional strength to deal with the situation and the confidence to start anew, to pursue a new life for herself. Also starring Pili Groyne as Estelle, Simon Caudry as Maxime, Alain Eloy as Willy, Myriem Akheddiou as Mireille, Fabienne Sciascia as Nadine and Timur Magomedgadzhiev as Timur. I can see why Cotillard was nominated the Oscar, she gives it her all as the ordinary working-class woman coming out of depression now on the edge trying to keep her job, it is a fairly simple humanistic story, the majority of which is just the leading character knocking on doors and talking to her co-workers about whether they will change their mind or not, but it is interesting enough to keep you hooked until the end, a worthwhile drama. It was nominated the BAFTA for Best Film Not in the English Language. Very good!

This is a peach of a movie.If you like continental European films and have a penchant for a gritty, realistic genre, which brings the dramas of everyday life to the big screen in totally believable and original ways, then this is a film you shouldn't miss.This Belgium offering was directed by the multi-award winning (Cannes) brothers, Jean-Pierre & Luc Dardenne, and stars the beautiful French actress, Marion Cotillard, who had to learn to speak with a Belgian accent and 'dress down' to make her look more 'ordinary'. Cotillard will never look totally ordinary, but she does a wonderful job of making you believe that she is a struggling young Belgian mother who is recovering from depression and receives some devastating news from her employer.Her workmates had been asked to vote – either for her to be dismissed and still receive their annual bonuses, or to let her continue to work and, as a result, forfeit their bonuses. The film relates the young wife's efforts over a single weekend to try and persuade the staff to change their minds after her boss agrees to hold a new ballot on the Monday morning.It doesn't sound like much, but trust me, it is riveting.I don't know why, but one of the user reviewers has compared this film to Lost in Translation, which I personally think was a boring load of nonsense. The truth is that this film is nothing like 'Lost in Translation'. This is a film full of heart-wrenching emotion, which explores the good, the bad, the selfishness and the generosity of the human spirit as the young mother embarks on a series of one- to-one meetings – sometimes confrontations – with her fellow employees, over a long weekend.Collitard is just superb in the role and is well deserving of the film's single Oscar Nomination for Best Actress. All the supporting actors, representing today's diverse Belgian society, also act their hearts out as working class folk, trying to make ends meet during the recession and desperate to keep hold of their bonuses for one reason or another.It is a truly 21st-century moral dilemma.Needless to say, both the professional and user movie critics are pretty much united in their views that this is a very fine film. Collitard was nominated for Best Actress Oscar for her wonderful portrayal in this film; but of course, as usual, it went to one of the Hollywood 'in' set.

Again this is another working class film situation in Seraing Belgium from the Dardenne brothers. This is emphasised not just in Sandra's situation, but in many of the co workers she visits one by one. It has all the Dardenne hallmarks; the tension and nervousness of the entire confrontation that Sandra has to go through with each person is magnified tenfold with the long takes that seem to take an eternity to reach the face to face, and an eternity for that answer we have heard before. They too need the bonus, they too are under financial strain. This is not quite Italian neo-realism, but we are well aware of the stress of the economic situation nevertheless. Where another film might cut into the door opening and the conversation starts immediately, here we must follow Sandra logically through tracking down her coworkers. Each inquiry is greeted by different reactions, but Cotillard remains the same. We all know this feeling, the pit in the stomach as you grow nearer to a dreaded conversation, wishing to not have to go through this.It is a wonderfully nuanced performance from Marion Cotillard. Even as the biggest actress the Dardennes have worked with yet, she becomes quite plain, quite troubled and vulnerable on the screen. She trembles with dreaded anticipation of yet another rejection, of another apology of needing the bonus, and we sympathise deeply. We see how she is wracked with guilt at having to force these decisions, how she knows how little they think of her, and how even littler she sees herself. There are hints of her competence and her kindness. There is a perfect moment in the car where her face creases up in a weary smile as her eyes well up with tears, and she grasps the hand of her husband. But there is little of these moments; the camera is unsentimental, offering no closeup reaction shots. Cotillard almost singlehandedly carries this emotion roller-coaster, where hope and despair see-saw wildly with each vote. There is clearly a financial incentive in keeping her position, but as we progress, we understand that for the depressed Sandra, it is more than just that. There is dignity at stake.Sandra does not want an abundance of pity or comfort. Opposite is her husband Manu (Fabrizio Rongione), who plays a useful (not entirely in the eyes of Sandra) role. While some might be able to empathise with Sandra's depression, others still will see themselves in the carer/significant other in Manu. It is a very familiar feeling, to have caring emotions turning into unwanted pity, to have words of encouragement ignored. Anyone who has occupied this character knows this. He is vital. As the film began to reach that vote count I thought there was little that could satisfy me in terms of a conclusion. Accept her back in and maybe a little predictable, a little sentimental. Cast her out into the waters and the whole crusade is rendered useless, a depressing and futile series of events. But the Dardennes pull it off; we learn so much of Sandra's character not just because she almost cannot bear to put such a burden of a decision on her coworkers (even the ones who dislike her), but because she is able to put herself in their shoes at the end. She is faced with the same dilemma and she reacts the only way that the Sandra we have seen would: with empathy. It receives added meaning and significance due to the last meeting in the laundromat, where we are introduced to a humble and gentle character in Alphonse , who like many of those before him is just looking out for his family. He does the right thing (in his, God's and the audience's eyes), and the Dardennes reward him and the audience by making Sandra do the right thing.