I am only giving this movie a 1 for the great cast, though I can't imagine what any of them were thinking. This movie was horrible

A lot of perfectly good film show their cards early, establish a unique premise and let the audience explore a topic at a leisurely pace, without much in terms of surprise. this film is not one of those films.

The movie's neither hopeful in contrived ways, nor hopeless in different contrived ways. Somehow it manages to be wonderful

Worth seeing just to witness how winsome it is.

This version of Maigret sets a trap is just not good enough to rate comparison with the famous Delannoy film of 1957, with its starry cast of Gabin, Desailly, Girardot and Bogaert. Rowan Atkinson, a considerable comic actor, is simply not up to playing Maigret: they have given him a pipe and a helpful wife but it's just not Maigret! Only David Dawson as Moncin and Fiona Shaw as his mother have done any effective work, as people who have been pushed to the limits of sanity. The Budapest locations are effective enough, as the Prague ones had been in the Bruno Cremer series. Camera work and music are appropriate, just the acting by most of the cast is not up to standard.

When the first episode came out I was wondering and with me many others if the appearance of Rowan Atkinson as inspector Maigrait had a hilarious (or ridicule) effect. When I saw it effectively, on the contrary : he is the SHINING STAR of this production. Those who like real crime stories and those who like characters rather than superficial faces and also those who like atmosphere and old time settings and costumes, well this serie is made for them. For Simenon is known that he has a passion for psychological background of his personages, there is an echo of this in the film's (brief) conversations and scenes. I understand that some vieuwers, more experienced, are dissapointed with the story as I am also a little dissapointed with this . I know the serie with Cremer as Maigret. That serie is more a Maigret serie, a "serie". The Atkinson adaption is more like a film, longer and more expensive what makes it a superb time spent to watch it. The episodes are sparsely made (til now 4 episodes) which i think is inevitable but I hope there are more in the pipeline.

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.

I will highly rate this film for several reasons.First, this is George Simenon, a 1st class writer. Second : Rowan Atkinson understood the role, the character and the script.This is a Filme Noire at it's best. The fact that it involves murder is of little consequence, this is about character portrayal, this is a look into the reasoning and understanding of the personas of people and their solitudes, their anguishes, their souls, their darker depths..In my personal opinion Rowan Atkinson nailed Maigret in a contemporary format. He was subtle and did not overplay. My image of Rowan has completely changed, this man can act, he feels, sees and behaves his role.....But the film was not just Rowan Atkinson, it was an entire cast, it was a Mise En Scene as it should be... This is exemplary of what can still be done today outside of the glamour of Hollywood..Living in France I have obviously seen the Maigret films and episodes and this film in no way undermines not fails the originals...Well done to the screen writer, director and cast for producing a down to earth and deeper portrayal of what has become customary, well done for taking a step aside and giving us something to watch that goes beyond the superficial...Although this will never become a classic, it is definitely worth adding to any repertoire...