Coup de Chance

Familiar elements, themes, and plot mechanics go full circle in Woody Allen’s Coup de Chance, a compelling study of a love affair in crises that expands on familiar Woody Allen themes dating back to his 1989 masterpiece Crimes and Misdemeanors and his 2005 comeback film Match Point, which now plays out like a trilogy on what I like to now call his “Chance, infidelity, and murder” trilogy. With a French cast of mostly unrecognizable faces plus a few familiar actors, Coup de Chance is well-scripted and well-crafted, as expected from the legendary auteur, orchestrating an engrossing dramatic thriller with shades of dark humor. This is Allen’s first film in a different language as well, in which Allen has now relocated to France. The musings appear to be flowing in his new setting. Seeing French characters speak in Allen’s vernacular never feels inverted. While Allen is now older, his creative energy is still flowing, which proves he’s still disciplined with his artistry.

Opening in Paris, where Allen has set many other films before, like Midnight in Paris and Magic in the Moonlight, Coup de Chance may hit some of the same familiar Woody Allen notes, but it takes the material in a different direction with a great payoff that echoes the dark humor of a Coen Bros. movie. But some of the ever-revolving characters feel lightly sketched, a problem that is quite evident, especially in the first 20 minutes of the film, which don’t quite engage, although the opening scene of a long-take tracking involving two characters reconnecting really pulls you in.

We’re instantly introduced to Fanny (Lou de Laage), a married woman who is approached by Alain (Niels Schneider), an old friend from high school that she hasn’t seen in over 15 years. As Fanny is on the go, they both agree to go to lunch together and catch up with each other. We learn that Fanny was once really into the arts and a bohemian in high school. She is now married to Jean (Melvil Poupaud), a homespun millionaire who is an unscrupulous financial consultant who enriches wealthy clients with even more money.

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In the opening, we get insights into France’s upper class, in which Allen has a long history of scrutinizing the wealthy while also showing the self-destructive consequences as character long for that lifestyle. We follow Fanny as she attends high-brow social gatherings, cocktail parties, and other perks of a luxurious lifestyle that she feels disconnected from. Eventually, she ends up meeting up with Alain, and she finds herself going to antique bookstores, going to autumn parks in the park, and getting dessert from a food stand.

Alain is also a writer, and he confesses to Fanny that he has always loved her since high school. This leads to great passion together, and they both end up having an extramarital affair, and Fanny feels her youth again. Jean ends up having suspicions about Fanny’s behavior and can sense she is growing distant. Jean ends up going to a private detective practice that ends up following Fanny, and recordings and photographic evidence prove that Fanny is indeed having an affair. Since Jean has no moral compass, he ends up hiring two criminals to knock off Jean.

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The rest of the narrative I will not spoil too much, but Fanny’s mother, Camille (Valérie Lemercier), begins to play her own gumshoe after already having her own suspicions about Jean, and she learns one of his old colleagues died under mysterious circumstances. She also finds out that Jean and Fanny followed after cleverly getting information from the private detective. Camille attempts to inform Fanny about this, and Fanny brushes off her mother’s suspicions as paranoia. Jean ends up prying around, and now Camille’s life is endangered to protect himself from his lawlessness.

While Coup de Chance may feel overly schematic in that the narrative takes a while to get going, it effectively shifts gears and becomes an engrossing moral drama with occasional moments of sharp wit and suspense. Allen’s 50th film also holds some subtle emotional moments; the performances are quite impressive, and the French cast shows great confidence and energy on screen with their interactions. and striking revelations in a narrative shaped by passion, desire, jealousy, deception, and consequence. Allen proves once again that he has an aptitude for intimacy and intrigue.