I was looking forward to this movie, but I was a little disappointed when it finally arrived.
I think so much effort was expended on getting the Maigretness of the whole thing right that tension and a plausible story went by the board.
Really, a tired old serial killer plot? It may have been cutting edge (no pun intended) in 1955 when Georges Simenon penned the novel, but the subject has been explored endlessly from every possible angle over the decades.
Set in 1950's Paris, the plot follows Rowan Atkinson's Maigret as he sets a trap for the killer of five women in Montmartre. Eventually he closes in on a suspect, but the biggest surprise is that the creators of the show were happy to go with a credulity stretching explanation for all the murders.
A lot of money was obviously spent on the production and it is an arty looking number with dimly lit alleyways and shadows on walls à la "The Third Man". However the pace is glacial and makes an episode of David Suchet's "Poiret" seem like "Fast & Furious 7" When I first saw that Rowan Atkinson was playing Maigret, I thought that could work. But he actually plays Maigret in such a mannered way that he is not too far off Inspector Clouseau. Maybe just a little more of his natural style at a sprightlier pace would have been a better way to go. He just needed to change whatever was in that pipe.
The film looks authentic enough even if it was filmed in Budapest, but also gives us a Paris that is about as quiet as a sleepy village in Provence. There is no bustle in this city, but I guess when you saddle yourself with a 1950's setting, the correct autos are not that easy to come by, and it has that shot on an early Sunday morning look.
"Maigret Sets a Trap" has to hold its own against brilliant, long-running series such as "Lewis", "Wallander" and "Vera" or the recent hit, "The Night Manager". I don't think it even gets up to speed with "Poirot" or "Miss Marple"; it's actually a bit of a snoozer. If a series is planned, and it doesn't rev up a bit, it could replace "Gardening Australia" as my preferred sleeping sedative.
I think so much effort was expended on getting the Maigretness of the whole thing right that tension and a plausible story went by the board.
Really, a tired old serial killer plot? It may have been cutting edge (no pun intended) in 1955 when Georges Simenon penned the novel, but the subject has been explored endlessly from every possible angle over the decades.
Set in 1950's Paris, the plot follows Rowan Atkinson's Maigret as he sets a trap for the killer of five women in Montmartre. Eventually he closes in on a suspect, but the biggest surprise is that the creators of the show were happy to go with a credulity stretching explanation for all the murders.
A lot of money was obviously spent on the production and it is an arty looking number with dimly lit alleyways and shadows on walls à la "The Third Man". However the pace is glacial and makes an episode of David Suchet's "Poiret" seem like "Fast & Furious 7" When I first saw that Rowan Atkinson was playing Maigret, I thought that could work. But he actually plays Maigret in such a mannered way that he is not too far off Inspector Clouseau. Maybe just a little more of his natural style at a sprightlier pace would have been a better way to go. He just needed to change whatever was in that pipe.
The film looks authentic enough even if it was filmed in Budapest, but also gives us a Paris that is about as quiet as a sleepy village in Provence. There is no bustle in this city, but I guess when you saddle yourself with a 1950's setting, the correct autos are not that easy to come by, and it has that shot on an early Sunday morning look.
"Maigret Sets a Trap" has to hold its own against brilliant, long-running series such as "Lewis", "Wallander" and "Vera" or the recent hit, "The Night Manager". I don't think it even gets up to speed with "Poirot" or "Miss Marple"; it's actually a bit of a snoozer. If a series is planned, and it doesn't rev up a bit, it could replace "Gardening Australia" as my preferred sleeping sedative.