Due to accusations of indiscretions that continue to dog Woody Allen, the legendary filmmaker finds himself outside the mainstream as he approaches his 90s. However, he continues to work, and with 2023’s Coup de Chance, he embraces a new challenge: his first-ever French language movie.

Wealthy married couple Fanny (Lou de Laâge) and Jean (Melvil Poupaud) live in Paris and seem to enjoy a nearly ideal life. However, the situations changes when Fanny runs into Alain (Niels Schneider), an old classmate.

This reignites old feelings and sends the pair into an affair. When Jean becomes suspicious, he launches an investigation that may lead to additional conflicts.

For years, Allen largely focused on his own Manhattan habitat. That trend changed with 2005’s Match Point, a flick that took Allen to England.

Allen changed locations mainly because his unprofitable movies no longer could get financial backing in the US, so he shifted overseas. 2012’s Midnight In Paris became his first effort set in France – and a rare semi-hit for the director.

However, that one largely featured American actors and it stuck with English dialogue. Because Chance comes with a French cast and French lines, it delivers a significant change of pace for Allen.

This also stems from the film’s tone, as it avoids Allen’s usual comedic styling. Of course, Allen made a good chunk of dramas over his career, but a tale like this nonetheless remains a rarity for him.

Too bad Allen can’t find anything interesting to say with Chance. A simple semi-thriller about infidelity and its repercussions, the story fails to find any intriguing twists.

Not much of what we see ever offers even mild surprises. We can discern various potential curveballs well in advance, and Allen doesn’t give the end result much panache.

Oh, the movie looks lovely. The photography from legendary cinematographer Vittorio Storaro ensures we find a great-looking movie.

That said, the lush visuals feel like an odd choice for a movie that really needs to build some form of tension. The gorgeous images take any potential edge off the proceedings.

As does the jaunty jazz score. The music bubbles and burbles in a way that feels more appropriate to a frisky rom-com than for a dark film of betrayal and revenge.

I suppose Allen felt these choices would add a sense of irony to the proceedings and thought this counterintuitive tone would create a compelling contrast. Instead, the various decisions just ensure that the film generates no drama or real intrigue.

The flat characters don’t help. All our leads exist as basic archetypes and Allen fails to turn any of them into interesting or dimensional roles.

All of this takes place in the usual Lifestyles of the One Percent settings Allen favors. Tedious as I find it to encounter another Allen movie about the wealthy, at least he implies a sense of monotony to the endless dinner parties and fancy weekends.

That becomes the only vaguely interesting aspect of Chance, an otherwise tedious tale. With a general sense of competence, it never threatens to become one of Allen’s worst movies.

Indeed, I find it refreshing that we don’t get the usual character based on Allen. Otherwise, this feels like a lackluster stab at a thriller.

Coup de Chance appears in an aspect ratio of 2.00:1 on this Blu-ray Disc. This became a highly satisfying presentation.

Sharpness worked very well. Virtually no softness emerged in this tight, precise image.

I witnessed no concerns with jaggies or moiré effects, and edge haloes stayed absent. Print flaws also didn’t appear in this clean transfer.

Colors heavily favored orange/amber, though it tossed in a bit of teal as well. Despite the overwhelming nature of these choices, the disc replicated them well.

Blacks were dark and deep, while shadows smooth and concise. This turned into a terrific image.

No one would expect a sizzling DTS-HD MA 5.1 soundtrack from a character flick like Chance, and the audio remained decidedly modest in scope. The soundscape offered mild environmental information and not much more. This meant some ambiance in street scenes or the oft-present rain but not much beyond that, which made sense for the chatty tale.

Audio quality seemed positive. Music was peppy and full, and speech seemed natural and concise.

Effects had little to do but showed adequate clarity and accuracy. In the end, this became a “B-“ track.

The disc includes the movie’s trailer and no additional extras.

In many ways, Coup de Chance offers a departure from Woody Allen’s usual MO. Unfortunately, these alterations don’t work, so we end up with a forgettable thriller. The Blu-ray boasts excellent visuals as well as adequate audio and a trailer. While not a bad movie, Chance just never clicks.