dakjets We have high expectations for British crime films. This one in my opinion lacks an investigation. Here's murder, and we expect a certain amount of investigation as the story is told. But it does not happen. No plot, or suspense. This causes the excitement to fail. Instead, we are witnessing a stylish film, performed in Paris's era. It's nicely filmed that way, but lacks any nerve we want to have when we watch great British crime on television.Rowan Atkinson shows that he can handle serious roles as well. Nothing to say about his efforts. Let's hope he gets something more to go after in the next episode, and with a plot that keep us on suspense.

dunfincin I was very disappointed with this. Atkinson is a brilliant comedy performer but not a serious actor. His performance here was just passable. I wonder how many fine British and dare I say it French actors were passed over to give him this opportunity. I just couldn't take him seriously. However no doubt if Hollywood had made this film it would have starred Owen Wilson or Vince Vaughn so musn't really complain. The direction and production values were very good notwithstanding that the film was shot mostly in Budapest as you could tell when occasionally the camera would pan across a wall trying to evoke early post war Paris but instead showing us posters clearly written in Hungarian. What totally ruined the film for me was the decision to use primarily English actors with a variety of English accents. You would see portrayed a French bar and obviously great lengths had been taken to add a genuine air of authenticity so much so that you could almost smell the stale wine and the aroma of Gauloise cigarettes then someone would come in and order a "sous-citron" with an unmistakable mancunian accent.Very effective what Brecht called "Stimmungsbrechung" - mood breaking.Far better, I think, to have used French-speaking actors possibly with subtitles or at least some form of franglais a la Hercule Poirot. In fact, some of it was so ridiculous that it would only have needed Atkinson to roll his eyes or start mugging to camera and I would have fallen off my chair. I am ready to suspend a modicum of belief for the sake of drama but not my my entire intellect.

rrusan Maigret detective stories comprise just a small part of the immensely prolific Simenon's oeuvre. However, Georges Simenon is best known exactly because of the Maigret character. I've read Maigret stories since childhood, and early on I was fascinated not so much with the "clever" story lines and plots, but because of somewhat lazy and disorganized ways in which eponymous detective and his associates in general operate. This adaptation catches very good all the important traits of a Maigret novel. Dangerous and focused killer of women is on the loose in the Montmartre quartier, Paris is on the brink because nobody sleeps peacefully until he is captured, Maigret works hard but cannot find a breakthrough. His men know that nobody but him will find a murderer, but higher officials are asking for closure. So Maigret will have to embark on a dangerous cat and mouse game with the killer, in which other innocent lives will be put in danger. So far, for those not familiar with cool detective, nothing exceptional. But, everything is so Simenon, and so Maigret, that you enjoy the slow flow and unraveling of the many seemingly unimportant scenes and subplots in this very well crafted movie. There are poor and struggling families with small children that will loose their mother; there are inner courtyards where housekeepers lurk behind their curtains and labourers drag their tired feet. There are lots of basement wine bars with barrels and men nurturing their glass of wine, beer or cognac. There are lots of young hardworking women, all of them attractive in their cheap after war dresses and blouses. Some of them are telephone operators, some of them strippers and dancers, and there is entire police squad of brave young women ready to risk their lives on the dangerous streets of Paris, no questions asked. And of course, there are suspects, quirky aspiring upper middle class characters in their slick apartments, struggling to appear respectable but hiding terrible secrets. More hardboiled police officers, dungeons of Quay d'Orfevre full of shady alkoholics, drug users and other sinners. Journalists, thirsty of any information but some of them familiar of Maigret's way of operating. And, yes, in the middle is Maigret, the detective with his pipe who is never in hurry. Rowan Atkinson was somewhat surprising choice, but he did excellent work impersonating french detective. Recommendable!

haurob I have never heard about Maigret before, so i must admit my reason for watching was Rowan Atkinson. After watching a few minutes, i came to the realization, that this would not be entertaining in the same way that i have gotten to know Mr Atkinson. Putting that aside, i was able to start enjoying the story and the twists. The story was actually a bit "out of the box" and believable characters. It was one of the better police/detective stories i have seen in years, albeit not being my genre. If you would like to turn off your Facebook, chats and all else, this will be an entertaining little show(?) to watch. Its not too long, neither too short.. and overall good quality in all aspects. Enjoy.