TMS Movie Review: Coup de Chance
(MPI Media Group)
Eight years ago, I wrote an article about how despite my personal disillusionment with my favorite filmmaker, Woody Allen, I would still review his movies as a part of my job. Two years later, I made an update claiming I was done with his new films after #metoo blew up because I started feeling guilt for ‘separating the art from the artist.’ At the time, it was pretty easy since Allen’s good-to-bad ratio had taken a serious downward slant in the past 25 years, and the reviews for his films since 2018 didn’t seem too promising anyway. Over time, I became more comfortable revisiting my favorites of his hits/classics in private. Imagine my surprise when Allen’s most recent effort, Coup de Chance, premiered at the Venice Film Festival last fall to a more than decent reception. My intrigue increased when it was then released in Europe with more positive feedback from viewers. Well, with nothing else particularly grabbing my attention last weekend and discovering Coup is already available on streaming only two weeks into its US release this month; curiosity got the best of me, and I decided to see what the deal was.
As has been the case for Allen since the mid-2000s, sometimes he leaves his beloved NYC for European major cities. London for Match Point (2005), Barcelona for Vicky Cristina Barcelona (2008), Paris for Midnight in Paris (2011), et al. Initially this was for tax reasons so he could continue working with movie stars, but now it’s because most US studios don’t think his films are worth greenlighting when accusations of child molestation resurfaced in 2014. In Coup de Chance, we’re back in Paris, but there are no famous faces in sight. With an all-French cast speaking in their native tongue, we follow 30-something art gallery organizer Fanny (Lou de Laâge), who is happily married to wealthy, semi-mysterious 50-year-old businessman Jean (Melvil Poupaud). One day, Fanny bumps into an old classmate from school, novelist Alain (Neils Schneider), by chance and he suggests they reconnect. Alain soon reveals he had a crush on Fanny when they were teens and eventually the two realize there is an attraction between them.
(MPI Media Group)
Valérie Lemercier co-stars as Fanny’s mother who suspects Jean is hiding a dark secret. After viewing the movie, it’s very easy to see why Coup de Chance is doing better than Allen’s previous releases post-allegations. There are no ridiculously huge age gaps between the romantic pairings, Woody himself isn’t a part of the cast, the characters aren’t as blatantly neurotic as we’d expect from them, and of course, the New York atmosphere is missing. But if you’re somewhat familiar with Allen’s work, you will still definitely recognize his usual tropes and trademarks. Fate and luck as prominent themes, characters having affairs, a crime twist mid-way through. Fanny is the typical Woody female lead who is charming, beautiful and a bit eccentric. The plot of Coup de Chance has a new spin on the writer-director’s past hits Crimes and Misdemeanors (1989) and Match Point. On the surface, the feature seems fresh, especially with the addition of legendary cinematographer Vittorio Storaro, but longtime fans will instantly notice Allen’s signature cues.
Coup de Chance reminds movie viewers what Allen is good at, and as once a fan, I’m shocked that he can still pull it off.