I love this movie so much

Truly Dreadful Film

Overrated

Beautiful, moving film.

This is new interpretation of of the old French Series 'Maigret' (featuring Michael Gambon as the great Detective). This entry has Rowan Atkinson reprising the role of the chief Homicide investigator in Paris. For those of you who think (or have heard) that Atkinson, a great comic actor (albeit in some very dark comedies) is unsuited to play such a role, may I give you some precedents: ** Robbie Coltrane (chubby, comic actor) was brilliant as the 'Cracker', a troubled forensic psychiatrist ** David Jason played Inspector Jack Frost for over 10 seasons (Jason previously played a cockney con-artist in the 80's (Only Fools & Horses) ** Jeremy Brett played Sherlock Holmes in the great BBC series, with the only real notable on his acting resumé being the role of 'Freddy' in My Fair LadyIt was pointed out to me that British casting directors will choose and transform a particular actor into a more dramatic role, and that they, thereafter, own that role for life. So, if Atkinson wants the job, he can have it. I think he does an excellent job, but I won't compare him to Gambon yet, since I only caught a few of those some time ago. This story, about setting a trap for a serial killer, was well-produced and acted. Britbox, the new streaming BBC 'kid on the block', has only 2 episodes, this one and Maigret's Dead Men, which was also quite good. All supporting cast are excellent, including Aidan McArdle from Mr. Selfridge, who (again) plays an arrogant turd, just like in Mr. Selfridge, only this time he has a bit of authority as Maigret's non-supportive supervisor.I don't know if these 2 were just pilots, and more are to come: depends on whether Atkinson and the Producers were happy with the results, I guess. Both shows feature strictly PG-13 content: no cursing or explicit scenes (Tnx!).8/10

I have seen Jean Gabin as Maigret, and there is no one that can come even close to his performance. Rowan Akinson's "problem" is that we know him as Blackadder, Mr Bean and Johnny English. And of course from "Not the nine o'clock news"! This is the same "problem" that other actors that are associated with a particular part have have. Ideally actors should not be known for a particular part or a particular type of parts. David Suchet is one of the few that has managed to "own" a particular role, Hercule Poirot, without that it has labeled him as "Poirot" in other roles. But sadly Rowan Atkinson can't pull off this feat. He is a comedian and will remain a comedian, especially as he was up to his usual comical roles after his portrayal of "Maigret"!

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.

Since this is my first Maigret I was impressed with the film. I think it is amazing how nice everything looks, especially the costumes and cars, the details are astounding! I can't comment on music, as I didn't even notice it, was too mesmerized by the image and story. Maybe some scenes were too long, but in general it was of a right length. I am a big fan of Rowan Atkinson, since The Blackadder series so I may be biased, but I really enjoyed this crime series. I remember when I was younger I even adored Murder She Wrote :)). Anyway, it's nothing like Cumberbatch' Sherlock, but it has it's own charm, I highly recommend it! I believe we can never have enough murder mysteries!! I'm off to watch Gambon's Maigret now, see what the fuss is all about! Cheers!