There are some terrific performances here (in my opinion, the best were by Huppert, Ledoyen and Ardant, in that order), but whenever the film threatens to actually engross us, it is done in by the artificiality of the concept (example: right after finding out - in shock - that her brother has been murdered, Ardant does a "Gilda"-type strip number), and the preposterousness of its plot "revelations" (did you notice that piece of information about Ledoyen's baby?). Agatha Christie was always careful to establish the motives of the various suspects; here every woman is meant to be a suspect, but most of them had no reason at all to kill the victim. The ending is a bummer, too; it has been done before in several American films, most notably a 1986 horror comedy which I will not name here, because that would be a spoiler. Let's just say it begins with "A". For an excellent "drawing-room" comedy-mystery, see "Murder By Death" instead. (**1/2)
