Cotillard got Oscar nod for 'Two Days, One Night'

MARION Cotillard is Oscar-nominated for her performance in "Two Days, One Night" as a furloughed woman lobbying to get her old job back.

That's the dry, bottom-line description of the premise, which is fraught with much larger spiritual, economic and political overtones.

Cotillard plays Sandra, a woman who returns to work from medical leave to find that she's been let go - voted out by some unknown majority of 16 factory workers forced to choose between a large bonus and her dismissal.

This is on a Friday, and Sandra spends the next two days visiting each employee in succession, asking them to reconsider in advance of a new, secret-ballot vote scheduled for Monday.

These conversations cause in Sandra a jumble of emotions: desperation, guilt, anger, gratitude and confusion, all of which Cotillard registers flawlessly, accounting for her nomination.

At the same time, directors Jean-Pierre and Luc Dardenne poke at larger themes, which weirdly recall those of "Nightcrawler": the idea of a modern world wherein every human being is a commodity, and every interaction is a transaction.

The Dardennes add another layer, addressing the contradiction between self-interest and self-sacrifice, quietly asking whether modern capitalism can detach itself from what Adam Smith described as necessary moral virtues.

All fine, except that as Sandra and her husband complete their canvassing of staff, there is a sharp narrative turn, an event that for me completely transcends and reprioritizes everything that's happened.

The film then drops the incident casually, as if nothing important has happened, leaving me baffled and by now completely out of the movie.

And certainly unconvinced by the cheerful ending.