So many scenes and conversations here are palpably laden with the anxieties of real life, both economic and personal. And yet, for all the dehumanization and desperation clouding its edges, Measure of a Man isn’t a hopeless movie.

| Nov 18, 2023

Presents us with an unassuming but surprisingly sharp moral quandary, a nagging question of honor that's hard to shake.

| Original Score: 3/4 | Jun 5, 2019

A tough, melancholic watch with little to no payoff. But in that way it effectively communicates how it feels to be the main character.

| Original Score: 4/5 | Apr 22, 2019

Impotent resistance versus soul-sucking compliance in the bloody coliseum of capitalism.

| Original Score: 4/5 | Apr 5, 2019

In scene after scene, Brizé exposes with an unrelenting focus the incessant scrutiny that those living in poverty like Thierry are placed under by those in positions of power above him.

| Aug 25, 2018

To borrow a title and aesthetic from the Film Society of Lincoln Center, this may be a narrative feature, but it's still the art of the real.

| Feb 15, 2018

The accumulating power of The Measure of a Man is in its small details and undemonstrative approach.

| Original Score: 4/55 | Oct 14, 2017

"The Measure of a Man" is a truly wonderful film.

| Sep 15, 2017

Watch Adam McKay's flash and funny financial crisis movie The Big Short and then turn to The Measure of a Man to see the human cost.

| Original Score: 4/5 | Jan 2, 2017

Stéphane Brizé's absorbing but unspectacular film stars Vincent Lindon as a working-class Joe who experiences the indignities of unemployment and, later, those of a soul-corroding job.

| Original Score: 3/5 | Dec 19, 2016

There are far better films, including French ones, that tackle the same thematic ideas as The Measure of a Man and actually do something with them.

| Dec 7, 2016

Brizé's film offers a compelling case study in how a good man with tragically bearish fortunes might find himself in bed with the most bullish of capitalists.

| Sep 27, 2016

Stéphane Brizé's "The Measure of a Man" feels so real, you're almost startled when it's over - it seems as if this French drama about a middle-aged husband and father facing unemployment should just go on, as life tends to do.

| Original Score: 3/4 | Jul 21, 2016

A piece of narrative fiction that borders on agit-prop in its fervent plea for the worker.

| Original Score: 7/10 | Jul 12, 2016

Lindon draws us in beautifully to his character, even though there isn't much to explore. It all relies on the final scene, a weak payoff to justify the title

| Jul 9, 2016

Subtle, voyeuristic and engrossing, with a stellar naturalistic performance by Lindon, this is a film for the discerning cinema lover

| Jul 9, 2016

The Measure of a Man is a triumph of realistic cinema, and a dirge for a blue-collar European worker left stranded after a once-solid job has melted away.

| Jul 8, 2016

Built around long, unsparing takes that are scrupulously observant ... the movie makes clear the importance of employment as a means of not just economic but mental underpinning.

| Original Score: 4/5 | Jul 5, 2016

"The Measure of a Man' poses an important question - what are we losing as humans in a world that champions financial profit above all?

| Original Score: A- | Jul 5, 2016

No question, it is a fine performance. Lindon has a minimalist style, a shaggy dog look, and a barely suppressed working-stiff rage that gives the film some grit.

| Original Score: 3/5 | Jun 29, 2016