Blu-Ray Review: Kino Lorber’s Half a Chance 

Vanessa Paradis is on the run from the Russian mob and only her would-be fathers – Jean-Paul Belmondo and Alain Delon – can help in Half a Chance.  New to Blu-ray from Kino Lorber. 

The Film 

If nothing else, Half a Chance affords one a chance to see the rarest of rarest visuals, Belmondo and Delon eating at a McDonald’s. This scene epitomizes the entirety of the action comedy directed by Patrice Leconte.  Highbrow aesthetics matched to Fast-food genre storytelling.  The result is a wonderfully entertaining action comedy that could have only been made in France and by Leconte. 

After being in prison for eight months for car theft, Alice (Paradis) is released having just learned of her mother’s recent passing.  A tape recording is the only thing Alice’s mother has left her.  Though the recording reveals that one of two men could be her long lost father, neither of whom knows of her existence.   Léo Brassac (Belmondo) is an exotic car reseller.  Julien Vignal (Delon) a hotelier.  As Alice introduces herself to Brassac and Vignal, thus begins a complicated series of events that lead to the trio being tangled up with the Russian Mob, the Police, and $50 million in drug money.  Thankfully for Alice, her would-be fathers have as much a panache for trouble as she does. 

Part of the delight of Half a Chance is how tangled of a mess the trio of Alice, Brassac and Vignal get themselves into in a series of escalating events.  Leconte working with screenwriters Patrick Dewolf and Serge Frydman to create a narrative that relies heavily on the family dynamics of the story first, then the genre elements.  However, the genre portions of the story are given the same respect as the familial comedy.  The result is a film that’s elevated beyond its buddy cop thriller, taking down the drug dealer’s origins.  

The biggest asset Half a Chance has is its super stars Jean-Paul Belmondo and Alain Delon as the would-be fathers.  The two actors approach their respective roles with charm, warmth and aplomb.  Half the fun of the film (pun intended) is watching the two at first playfully bicker away then, slowly but surely work together to help Paradis’s character get out of the mess she’s gotten into.  Paradis herself is able to match the stars and her fathers to be with the amount of charm and wit she brings to Alice. 

Leconte working with cinematographer Steven Poster manages to create a film that in its finale goes hard into action and is as visually astute as its English Language counterparts.  So much so one will be hard pressed to find a car chase this side of Ronin better than the finale in Half a Chance.  However, it’s not the action but the comedy and characters that will keep you entertained far more than the expertly staged action.  That is what elevates Half a Chance to a truly wonderful action comedy that shouldn’t be missed. 

The Transfer

The 2K Restoration by TF1 is an excellent presentation of the filmic origins of the late 1990s European shooting style and European film stock.  The film stock looks to have a similar color density of films like Leon or any of the European genre films shot during the era.  Half a Chance shot by Steven Poster has the beauty and density of that one can only get from shooting on 35mm stock, making the color spectrum be a bit darker and luminous than is possible on digital.  There is no scratch or any sort of defect; it is just a beautifully clean widescreen image.  Half a Chance is a wonderful example of the beauty one can bring to Blu-ray with an expertly shot film. 

The Extras

They include the following;

• NEW Audio Commentary by Film Historians Howard S. Berger, Steve Mitchell and Nathaniel Thompson
• Theatrical Trailer (Newly Mastered in HD)

The all-new Audio Commentary by Film Historians Howard S. Berger, Steve Mitchell and Nathaniel Thompson opens with their credentials and a discussion of the titles.  Some of the details include the great score by Alexandre Desplat; the career and personal history of star Vanessa Paradis – including a discussion of the Pop Music career; the question why Belmondo and Delon did not team up in more films; director Leconte’s career as a comic book artist and how that informed and did not inform his visual style; a discussion of Leconte’s career – including his blockbusters in France which his rep as an art house director in the English not considering his comedies and action films; Leconte is his own camera operator and how that informs on the visual style; a discussion of the use of Cars in the film and its similarity to other French and American Directors; the influence of American Crime Fiction on Leconte and the film; the influence of Luc Besson on French films at the time; a discussion of the French Genre films and their American/English Language remakes and how they lose something in translation; a discussion of the French superstars – like Lino Ventura, Belmondo, and Delon – and their success in America and how that informed the films they made in France/Europe; Leconte’s surprising response to a film student who wrote his thesis paper on the director’s work and their connective throughlines; a discussion of Leconte’s career post and pre Half a Chance – including a discussion of his film Ridicule; a great discussion of Poster Art and how it changed from being art directed to give you an idea of the film to art direction “TV Guide Covers”; a discussion of the stunt work and action scenes throughout the film; a discussion throughout about the career and how the images are subverted of both Belmondo and Delon; and much more.  

Rounding out the special features are trailers for Half a Chance [Newly Mastered in HD] (2:17); Le Doulos (2:25); Joy House (3:21); Ho! (3:46); Un Flic (4:26); Mississippi Mermaid (1:39); Farewell, Friend (4:02); The Hunter Will Get You (2:28); The Widow Couderc (2:47); Le Professionnel (2:12); Armageddon (3:37); The Outsider (2:43)

The Final Thought 

Half a Chance is a true undiscovered gem of an action comedy waiting to be discovered by English language audiences. Recommended!!!  

Kino Lorber’s Blu-Ray edition of Half a Chance is out March 18^th