Woody Allen's Coup de Chance

Niels Schneider and Lou de Laage
in Woody Allen's
Coup de Chance

The main reasons to see Woody Allen's Coup de Chance are the gorgeous shots of Paris and the French countryside in autumn, and, if you are completist like me, to be able to say you've seen all 50 of his films. Otherwise, this latest and perhaps final effort from Allen is another retread of his suspense, trick-ending efforts such as Crimes and Misdemeanors, Scoop, Match Point, You Will Meet a Tall, Dark Stranger, Irrational Man, and Cassandra's Dream, except it lacks the humor of the first two. A woman embarks on an affair with her high school classmate she happens to bump into on the street. Her husband discovers her infidelity and hires underworld goons to "eliminate the problem." Sound familiar? So many of Allen's "suspense" films seem to be about creating plot twists and story problems to solve rather than examining human beings and their foibles. Coup de Chance most closely resembles the Martin Landau plot arc of Crimes and Misdemeanors, which I felt was the weakest part of that film. Allen is fascinated with guilty people operating outside the law and sometimes getting away with it. Perhaps this parallels his subconscious feelings of guilt over the Soon-Yi affair/marriage and his daughter Dylan's accusations of child abuse. Although I don't see the comparisons clearly. Maybe he wants to exact his own form of justice? I saw this at the Quad at 11:30 am on the Monday of the solar eclipse. The film was gorgeous to look at (I didn't look at the eclipse because I had no special glasses), but it felt as empty as Rifkin's Festival, Allen's last film. I didn't care what happened to any of the characters as I did in Radio Days, recently viewed on TCM. There are reports Allen will be filming another movie in Italy this fall. I will probably see it, but not expect anything great.