Trailer Link

Release Date:

August 15, 2014

Synopsis:

From IMDb: “A stroke-afflicted filmmaker is manipulated by a notorious con man.”

Poster: C / C+

Review: With poster design, creating new style for foreign territories is common practice. Sometimes they are better, sometimes worse. In the case of Abuse of Weakness, the original French design (#2) is a dark, foreboding affair. In the English-language version (#1), the position of the lovers is retained, but shifted onto a white background making it seem more pure than it probably is. I don’t mind new designs or even repurposed designs, but this type of cheap copy-pasting is exactly that: cheap.

Trailer: B-

Review: Isabelle Huppert looks terrific as usual, though the film seems a bit formulaic for my tastes. Presenting this as a feeble woman being taken advantage of by a man whom she had taken advantage of is not an original idea. While the trailer tries to spin this particular narrative slightly differently, it isn’t entirely successful.

Oscar Prospects:

None.

Revisions:

(August 17, 2014) Original