While this drama morphs into a thriller that would make Claude Chabrol smile, small bits of humor find their way in, as only Woody Allen can craft them. It is here where comparison to his 2005 masterpiece, Match Point, is found. As with that film, this is deadly serious stuff, but the filmmaker finds a macabre playfulness in its final act that produces some wicked smiles.

Once Fanny’s suspicious mother (a wonderful Valérie Lemercier) comes to visit, her obsession with true crime books leads to her opening a can of worms that will put the characters into a dangerous game of chance. Or is it luck? Or perhaps, fate? Woody is having fun toying with the audience’s perception.

As do most of Allen’s pictures, this one flows to the rhythms of Jazz music. This time, it is a more funky style, fueled by Herbie Hancock’s “Cantaloupe Island”, which becomes a recurring theme that gives a strangely intoxicating bounce to the plot.

Giving the film its beautiful imagery is the great Vittorio Storaro, whose blue, red, and orange motifs capture the hue of Paris in the Fall and set the right visual tone for Allen’s excellent screenplay. Beginning with 2016’s Cafe Society, Storaro has formed a strong relationship with the director, resulting in a five film streak that includes some of the most visually striking works of Allen’s career.

Woody’s latest is one of his most interesting in a while. While I liked 2020’s Rifkin’s Festival and 2019’s A Rainy Day in New York quite a lot, one could argue they aren’t “top shelf” and stayed close to the writer-director’s comfort zone without taking any real chances. While focused in its creation, Coup de Chance is organically engaging in its character design as well as its pacing. Seemingly economical, Allen’s script holds a bevy of dramatic (and darkly comical) delights and holds pointed musings on infidelity, marriage, murder, and morality.

Coup de Chance is Woody Allen’s 50th film. What a milestone for a man who started making movies in 1966, and who (since 1969’s Take the Money and Run) has made almost one film a year over fifty five years. If this is to be his final bow (the director has stated that it may very well be), this would be a fitting farewell. While not a classic, Woody’s latest work finds the master filmmaker clever as ever and in full control of the themes he loves to explore.

Make no mistake, this is a very good picture and a French soufflé of moral “crimes et délits”.

Coup de Chance

Written and Directed by Woody Allen

Starring Lou de Laâge, Melvil Poupaud, Niels Schneider, Valérie Lemercier

PG-13, 93 Minutes, Gravier Productions, Perdido Productions