Coup!

Anchored by its leads, “Coup!” is a tasty morsel of social commentary about problems that continue to plague our world.

A tiresome self-satisfied tone that is made a fair bit more tolerable by Sarsgaard’s juicy lead performance.

A dark comedy about class warfare, government overreach and infectious disease. It’s a lot more fun than that sounds.

This implication that virility trumps effeteness is, amid an otherwise straightforward comedy, an uncomfortably regressive way to tell the story of how people vie for power in hard times.

The film has little to add on the subject of the interplay of politics and infectious disease, then or now.

Fleet and frisky at just 97 minutes, tidily but not ostentatiously crafted, and in thrall to the pleasurably low-stakes sport of watching one scoundrel outwit another.

The spirited, lightly underplayed performances make Coup! worth a look.

Holding the film together, though, is Sarsgaard, whose riveting and nuanced turn brings some heart to this broad caricature.

Pleasantly grandiose, but deeply cynical social satire, ultimately redeemed by its two lead performances.

Coup! does its best in finding the right balance between comedy and thriller.