We open Woody Allen's French film Coup de Chance April 5 at the Claremont, Monica Film Center and Town Center. The Paris-set romantic comedy-thriller follows the seemingly happily married Fanny (Lou de Laâge) and Jean (Melvil Poupaud). But when Fanny accidentally bumps into Alain (Niels Schneider), a former high school classmate, things take a turn. Critics have lauded the movie:
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"The film has a jaunty tone of deadpan glee, abetted by its soundtrack of ’60s jazz nuggets …the movie is absorbing, thrilling, and cheekily satisfying...as a culture, I wouldn’t be too surprised if we found ourselves debating whether the time has come to give Woody Allen, as a filmmaker, another coup de chance." ~ Owen Gleiberman, Variety
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"Woody Allen’s 50th movie is striking and looks superb." ~ Stephanie Bunbury, Deadline"It’s a tight 90-minute murder mystery with a surprise ending that will blow you away." ~ Roger Friedman, Showbiz 411
"Allen’s trademark philosophical asides and well-tuned one-liners fit neatly into French …Vittorio Storaro’s amber lighting setups nicely burnish the film’s languid stretches of love in the afternoon." ~ Ben Croll, TheWrap
"Coup de Chance is indeed the best thing that Allen has made in years, certainly since Blue Jasmine in 2013." ~ Kevin Maher, Times (UK)
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“A mischievous thriller." ~ Caroline Vié, 20 Minutes
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“Lou de Laâge is a perfect Allenian heroine, spicy and irresistible." ~ Barbara Théate, Le Journal du Dimanche
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"Coup de Chance is the 50th film Allen has directed and one of his best. It was made in France and is, to all intents and purposes, a French movie." ~ David Stratton, The Australian
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"A tight and effective French-language thriller that is also, among other things, the world’s longest mother-in-law joke." ~ Glenn Kenny, RogerEbert.com
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"Coup de Chance is not a major reinvention, but it does have more spirit and joie de vivre than anything Allen has done in a while." ~ Jonathan Romney, Screen International
"Given his otherwise grim recent form, Allen himself may have simply got lucky with this one, but the charm and sparkle here are real." ~ Robbie Collin, Daily Telegraph (UK)