Maigret in Montmartre

After the initial shock that comedy actor Rowan Atkinson ("Mr. Bean", "Johnny English") plays the dead-serious role of inspector Jules Maigret, came the establishment that he does a terrific job with it. Atkinson possibly puts down the best portrayal of Georges Simenon's legendary and world-widely famous Parisian police detective, and especially the first two TV-movies ("Maigret Sets a Trap", "Dead Man") starring him are highly recommendable. "Maigret in Montmartre" is also a solid and enjoyable mystery/thriller, but it's somehow less compelling, less plausible and less involving than the previous installments. Maigret is devastated when the stunningly beautiful nightclub dancer Arlette is found strangled in her apartment. After all, she came to the police station the evening before, with a story that she overheard a murder plot, but most of all Maigret realizes she came to seek protection. When the mysterious "countess" Arlette was referring to is also found dead, Maigret and his team dig deeper in the background of the popular Arlette, but also clean out the sleazy Picratt club in the heart of Montmartre's red-light district. Atkinson is still as sober and integer as he was previously, but the script makes a few lame twists (the sentimental La Pointe, for instance) and some of the supportive characters (Philippe Martinot, club owner Fred Alfonsi, ...) are truly weak and unpersuasive. But the biggest letdown here is the "Oscar" character. Whodunit thrillers simply don't work if the culprit is revealed as somebody who doesn't appear in the story before.

Just finished watching Maigret in Montmartre again, and absolutely loved it. Pitch perfect in recreating George Simenon's Maigret and Paris between the wars.

The casting was superb. Atkinson was excellent as the dour down beat Maigret, perhaps almost too dour in places but with good range. But the surrounding cast was delightful also. I loved the scrumptious Lucy Cohu as Madame Maigret, her beautifully understated mix of fondness, frustration and patience with him was wonderful, together with Maigret's low-key approving statements of "you're a very clever person" when she made a pivotal suggestion. The understated but loving relationship was superbly evoked including in the last frame. Mme Maigret as scripted and performed is a hidden gem anchoring the series through the downbeat.

And, through all the faded glories, the seedy smoky foggy environs perfectly staged and captured, the ultimate message of deliverance through relationships and positive outcomes shone through in four relationships. Very well scripted, I thought, to deliver a positive end to a very downbeat storyline.

This reimagining, or is it imagining, of between the wars Paris was superbly done (great location work in Budapest, where did they get those crooked and worn steps?). Full credit to the BBC and production company, in the usual superb English manner, of recreating the historic environment, making it totally believable in a very high-quality cinematic manner, and dropping us into the environment.

I accept the cast speaking "working person" English, rather than franglais, which is just as believable as when I watch Kenneth Branagh's series of Wallander with working person English in Sweden.

I look forward to more Maigret, and more Atkinson, and more Madame Maigret as well.

What a disappointment to find there were only 4 episodes, I really enjoyed this series. Sharp cast, great scenery and wonderful acting. Dare I say I liked it better then Mr Bean.

I love Rowan Atkinson. I think he is an excellent yet underrated actor. He just gets it. He knows how to become his characters and it makes his believability so much better.

Drugs, slease, love and murder are found in this film. It's not overdone and I personally liked that. It is a simple case of murder being investigated by a shrewd detective. If you're looking for a lot of action you are not going to find it here. This is straight up mystery. I enjoyed it.

Maigret au Picratt's, a novel from the 1930's, has gotten at least three TV treatments: Jean Richard's in 1985, Bruno Cremer's in 1992 and now Rowan Atkinson's. This latest film has some good acting by Douglas Hodge as the oily Fred, Adrian Rawlins as the crazed Oscar and Sebastian de Souza as the pathetic Philippe, but it still suffers from a weak script that lacks atmosphere--I mean emotional atmosphere not the Budapest street locations that look pretty wonderful at times. Atkinson uses his mellifluous voice to good effect but is unconvincing as Maigret.