Keith McNally, the hotshot Manhattan resturateur behind Augustine, Balthazar, Cafe Luxembourg, Cherche Midi, Lucky Strike, Minetta Tavern, Nell’s, Odeon, Pastis and Schiller’s Liquor Bar, is a Woody Allen fan from way back. Would it be fair to say that McNally is “in the tank” for the guy? Yeah, I think.

Within the last several hours McNally announced on Instagram that he had “wheedled” his way into am early-bird screening of Woody’s Coup de Chance, which many of us are hoping will show up in Cannes in mid May.

McNally #1: “It’s fucking great!…Allen’s best film since Midnight In Paris.”

McNally #2: “Coup de Chance is a contemporary film about romance, passion, jealousy, infidelity and murder. It stars terrific French actors and actresses, and is sensationally shot by maestro cinematographer Vittorio Storaro.

McNally #3: The film most critics will probably compare Coup de Chance to is Match Point, but the film it most reminds me of is Louis Malle‘s 1958 masterpiece, Elevator To The Gallows. The music especially. It’s a truly wonderful film.”

HE to McNally: A film reminiscent of Elevator to the Gallows suggests a plot that pivots on dark irony and passion-driven perps caught in the cruel grip of karma. In Match Point a lucky guy got away with murder — perhaps not this time.

(Thanks to World of Reel‘s Jordan Ruimy for the tip-off.)