Costa Gavras has a reputation for very serious and very political thrillers. He first came to prominence 40 years ago with "Z", a film about a political assassination in his native Greece. Of his oeuvre since then I have seen and enjoyed "State of Siege, about the Tupamaros insurgency in Uruguay and "Missing", about the aftermath of the deposition of Salvador Allende in Chile (though the country is not actually named). This film, based on a 1997 novel by the prolific American crime writer Donald E Westlake, could be described as Costa Gravas lite, as it has many of the elements of black comedy.

The protagonist, Bruno (Jose Garcia),has lost his well-paid job as a senior chemist at a paper manufacturing company owing to a corporate merger. Increasingly desperate and running out of money, he decides to eliminate his likely rivals for advertised positions in the same field. Bruno is no psychopath, murder is not easy for him, but he truly believes he is nothing without his job – he literally seeks Arcadia (earthly paradise) through his work since the job he is after is with the (fictitious) Arcadia paper company.

Some of the best lines in the movie come from Bruno's encounters with his victims, two of whom, unaccountably, have English surnames (Hutchinson, Barnet) Some have suggested that there is an air of unreality in the story since Bruno would in real life be quickly detected. Virtually every hit is bungled in some way, he uses his own car and the same World War 2 handgun, and the police are on his trail. However, getting away with it, or at least not getting caught by the forces of law and order, is par for the course in this type of black comedy. Costa Gavras is obviously out to show the injustice of it all but he lays the blame on the system. Incidentally, if you find the ending mysterious have a look in the credits for the name of the character played by the lovely Vanessa Larre.

While Bruno is out bumping off his rivals there is trouble on the home front. His teenage son has been caught shoplifting and Bruno returns to thwart the police investigation. His wife (Karin Viard) suspects Bruno might be having an affair, though since the story has been relocated to France from New England she is only mildly upset about the possibility, and they troop off to a marriage counselor. She is blissfully ignorant as to what Bruno is really up to.

Jose Garcia reminds me of Kevin Spacey and he makes an effective deranged Everyman. The minor characters are well realised, particularly Ulrik Tukur as Hutchinson and Olivier Gourmet as the man whose job Bruno is after. Karin Viard is effective as the baffled wife, and Geordy Monfils filled the bill as their errant son.I also liked Olga Grumberg in a small but significant role as a contemptuous job interviewer.

Costa Gavras has sugared the pill a bit here, but the film remains much stronger stuff, than, say, "Up in the Air", Jason Reitman's recent take on giving people the sack.

Faithfully adapted from a Donald Westlake's novel, maybe among his best novels ever, far from his comedy crime Dortmunder's adventures, this film is itself among the best stories ever told concerning the unemployed managers and executives, the authentic jungle of the inner big companies policies and rules, the jungle of mandatory smiles, kingdom of hypocrisy or how to survive in such a fierce and ruthless world. Mllions of people could recognize themselves in Jose Garcia's character, as the reader of Westlake's book also could become the main lead. This is a terrific tale about a terrible situation concerning an awful world where the enemies are the problem but unfortunately not the solution. Only poor innocents fellows are. Awesome and awful.

The thirty-nine years old executive Bruno Davert (José Garcia) has been working for fifteen years in a paper company. After a merging operation with a Romania's company, he is fired in a downsizing. While unemployed for two years, Bruno loses his self-esteem and sanity and his family loses the middle-class lifestyle without cable television, Internet and regular consumption. He concludes that there is too much competition in his sector for a few job positions and decides to literally eliminate his competitors, killing those more qualified than him.

"Le Couperet" is a sarcastic view of the greed of the companies and the effects of downsizing in the self-esteem and sanity of a man. The awareness of the economical situation in France (but could be in most of the nations) and black-humor of Costas-Gravas gives a fantastic satire to the greed of the corporations, aiming exclusively profits without any care for the human beings. The sub-employment, as means of survival; the exacerbated use of merchandising to force the consumption; the situation of the family, being emotionally shattered with the stressful situation of the husband and father; all of these elements are ironically presented in this tough and realistic social satire through a French middle-class family. José Garcia is stunning in the role of a bitter man fighting to find job position and serial killer. My vote is eight.

Title (Brazil): "O Corte" ("The Cut")