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"Coup de Chance"

 Three: the best number. 


People sometimes think that a story of three is a love triangle--but that label rarely works. In a true love triangle, each vertex is pulled toward the other two vertices. The movie "Challengers" is a true love triangle.


I didn't like "Challengers," but I do like "Coup de Chance," a silly, skillful thriller. In this film, a young woman--let's call her Diane Keaton--feels trapped in her marriage. She thinks of herself as a trophy wife, and she overhears other people describing her in this way. Her spouse (we'll call him Michael Caine) controls what she wears and how much time she devotes to cardiovascular training.

Diane Keaton meets an old friend, a novelist (his name could be Woody Allen). And Allen and Keaton begin an affair; they read together, they take long walks in the park. Michael Caine becomes suspicious--digs up evidence of the affair--and orders a "hit" on Woody Allen. And Keaton is led to believe that Allen has simply "ghosted" her. 

However, a stranger comes to town. Keaton's suspicious mother raises various questions. And it's not clear that this story will cap its "body count" at just one corpse.

I think this script is useful for students of pacing; the story continuously transforms itself. I also like the use of objects: a prescription, a manuscript, and a hunting rifle all turn out to be more important than they initially seem to be.

Finally, it's fun to see divided, complicated people in high-stakes situations. You feel you're in the hands of a writer who knows what he is doing.

This is a keeper.
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