filippaberry84 I think this is a new genre that they're all sort of working their way through it and haven't got all the kinks worked out yet but it's a genre that works for me.

Frances Chung Through painfully honest and emotional moments, the movie becomes irresistibly relatable

Paynbob It’s fine. It's literally the definition of a fine movie. You’ve seen it before, you know every beat and outcome before the characters even do. Only question is how much escapism you’re looking for.

Francene Odetta It's simply great fun, a winsome film and an occasionally over-the-top luxury fantasy that never flags.

Bob Taylor I could grumble about the missing elements in this episode: how there is very little suspense (the shooting of the jeweller's wife is so cursory, so hurried that we barely register it), how the plot gets mangled in the course of the story--it's a major flaw to omit the Paris scene, or Andersen's flight to Belgium, the mediocrity of some of the actors. Still, the decors look pretty good--those Hungarian technicians are capable of recreating French country scenes--and Atkinson is settling down in his part. The Bruno Cremer version is the one to see; it has far better acting and the action is more convincing.

lucyrfisher Another wonderful story from Georges Simenon. The production team have got everything right down to the last detail. The garage full of old cars, the unmade roads, the shabby kitchen of the decaying mansion. The bizarre inhabitants, the girl who has to be locked in her room "for safety". But ultimately it's disappointing. Rowan Atkinson is a good Maigret, but he lacks the character's humour (which Michael Gambon had in spades). Atkinson is too solemn, and - fatally - the writers and director have made him soft-centred. He twinkles slightly at the girl, when she tries to seduce him, but in a melancholy way. Gambon would have flirted back. She is impressed that he doesn't respond, but merely treats her burned fingers. I feel this incident is not in the book (the writers needed a pretext to bring them closer), even though Simenon is always concerned about what characters eat and drink. (Maigret decides the girl needs some poached eggs – but surely Maigret can't cook?)Madame Maigret is given a plonkingly 21st-century speech about the difficulty of being married to a policeman. Anachronistic, and also Cop Show Cliché No. 794. And finally: the director loves filming characters in long shot while they are making a long speech full of plot exposition. And many young actors think that naturalism means keeping your face immobile. I turned on the subtitles.

Khun Kru Mark This is the third outing of the latest reboot of a familiar character on British TV. Twenty-five years ago (In the early nineties) Michael Gambon played the lead on TV. Before that, a moody Rupert Davis was the man in charge of an early 1960s version for the BBC. This time around a mature Rowan Atkinson is at the helm with a more reserved, stoic and academic interpretation of the French policeman. Maigret's Night at the Crossroads starts with a Jewish jewel fence called Goldberg who goes against his wife's wishes and tries to pull off a last job before moving to America. He's shot at a quiet crossroads in the countryside just outside Paris and his body is discovered the next morning in the garage of a secretive man with a disfigured body and a serious eye problem. Once again the story has perfection in every department. This is the very best of British television drama. The suspects slowly unfold into the narrative and the story glacially meanders to its logical conclusion. If anything, this third installment has a bit more 'action' than the first two tales. A couple of shootings and just a bit of running around in the dark. But mostly the focus is on the exquisite stories of all the characters, their motives and their surroundings.Too may reviewers have spent too much time on the lead actor... which to me is a distraction from almost perfect TV drama. Congratulations to commercial television for taking a chance and doing something right. There is too much public attention thrown towards other more frothy cop shows but this rendition of Maigret makes Broadchurch look like an episode of Scooby-Doo!Make a cup of Horlicks, draw the curtains and ignore the rain then settle in for a bloody good drama.

robert-temple-1 This is the latest ITV Maigret feature film starring Rowan Atkinson as Maigret. It is based on a novel by Simenon entitled LA NUIT DU CARREFOUR (THE NIGHT OF THE CROSSROADS), which has an interesting cinematic history. It was the very first Simenon novel ever to be filmed, and of course the first Maigret film, in 1932. That was directed by Jean Renoir, and it was a dreary and inept film which was frankly a complete failure (NIGHT AT THE CROSSROADS, 1932, see my review). The novel was more successfully filmed again in 1992 as an episode in the French Maigret series starring Bruno Cremer. However, this new film of the novel is even better, and is a complete success. It is absolutely superb. Atkinson has achieved perfection now in his portrayal of Maigret, and together with that fact, the script by Stewart Harcourt and the direction by Sarah Harding have turned out a spectacular example of drama for ITV, of which everyone can justly be proud. Tom Wlaschiha does a particularly excellent job of portraying the mysterious and tormented character of the Dane who calls himself Andersen, and Mia Jexen does an excellent job also as his equally mysterious 'sister' Else. I would say that Kevin McNally slightly over-acted as Inspector Grandjean, thereby letting us know too early that Grandjean was a 'baddie'. That all could have been done much more subtly, and not telegraphed, and the director should have given him better direction and told him to tone it down. Katherine Kanter did very well as Sarah Goldberg, a part which required a great deal of poise to make up for very little dialogue. I think I should also specially mention Wanda Opalinska, who played the minor character of Jojo, and who might normally not get mentioned in a review. She added a great deal to her small part, using her own wits and instincts, and correctly judging just the right level of suspicious glances and nervous reactions. The production design and music were excellent, as was the case with the previous films in this series. We have really terrific drama here, and let us hope they go on and on.