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“Many plot points in Konigsberg’s films depend on people running into each other in New York. In fact, you could say that the only plot arrangements in Konigsberg films depend on these chance encounters. And if Konigsberg allows chance to structure his film, in both form and content, it is because his vision of the universe is one without pattern or design. Chance is the atheist’s answer to prayer. Prayer depends on the idea that there is a design or will in the universe and this can be influenced to change events. Chance provides a belief for the atheist that there is no design or will, so that when things happen, good or bad, they can be assigned to chance. In this sense, chance gives a kind of agency to the individual who doesn’t believe in design or will. (…)
If there is no basis to know how to live in the nonreligious world that Konigsberg inhabits, then there is no way to make a film that will resonate with meaning. The least (or maybe most) one can do is make narratives about the serendipitous nature of existence and the chancy nature of chance. At the end of the day, or the film, we as the audience can only watch as the tennis ball hovers at the net—marveling that there is no way to predict which way it will fall and no significance to be drawn from the direction in which it ultimately falls.”
(“The Man Behind Woody Allen,” The Common Review)
