Cinema: The School Of Flesh

Isabelle Huppert has one of the most watchful, and watchable, film faces. As a Paris fashion magnate who takes up with a bisexual stud (Vincent Martinez, purring his sullenness through a Joaquin Phoenix mouth), Huppert brings her appraising intelligence to a sugar-mommy role. She wants her young beau to be a gentleman at table and a beast in bed; often she stares at him as if he were under glass or in a cage. The movie asks, What would you pay for great sex? Your self-esteem? Not the great Huppert. This swank, thoughtful film gives full rein to that rare actress who, as tears stain her cheeks, can radiate a heroic insolence toward the man she love-hates.

–By Richard Corliss