Write an ordered list of reviews about "merci pour le chocolat".
1. Its captivating conundrum is as subtle as a jackhammer.
2. The twists and turns of "Merci Pour le Chocolat" are a delight to watch.
3. The film flat lines when it should peak and is more missed opportunity and trifle than dark, decadent truffle.
4. Merci Pour le Chocolat has a restraint and rigor that we don't see in commercial American films, the kind that a director creates when he has no interest in sentimentality or in soliciting the audience's favor.
5. A sun-drenched masterpiece, part parlor game, part psychological case study, part droll social satire.
6. Though slow-paced and a bit too impenetrable, this film offers a number of pleasures, the best being another fascinating performance by Isabelle Huppert, one of the world's finest actresses.
7. Credit Huppert as much as Chabrol for the film's success.
8. Like being invited to a classy dinner soiree and not knowing anyone. You leave the same way you came -- a few tasty morsels under your belt, but no new friends.
9. It's enough to watch Huppert scheming, with her small, intelligent eyes as steady as any noir villain, and to enjoy the perfectly pitched web of tension that Chabrol spins.
10. This is not Chabrol's best, but even his lesser works outshine the best some directors can offer.