Don Matteo

I am constantly amazed at the twists in this show & the very clever dialogue. A simple repeating plot, but the characters really draw you in. Nice, clean, humor & fun. You will grow to love each one.

Fr. Matteo is fine family fare and always has a moral or two to make one think. I do enjoy all of the characters, but I would not recommend binge watching more than one season at a time. It is more enjoyable to come to it fresh.

One huge distraction -- or, rather, attraction, perhaps -- is watching Mr. Hill's hairline recede. It would not even have entered my mind, except in the first episode, the Bishop tells him that he is too good-looking and implies that if, among other things, he were bald, he would be less of a temptation to women.

Each episode, it becomes more and more obvious that his hair is "thinning"; and each episode, the makeup folks try other ways to conceal that fact. A fun pastime in itself! Plus, the camera folks zoom in and take off the top of heads, so that we see less and less of Fr. Matteo's less-and-less. Perhaps related to this issue, Mr. Hill's character has less of a role to play and the feuding officers become more prominent. That is a bit of a shock, and sad, because the show is supposed to be about Don Matteo.

Don Matteo is a charming Italian television series about a priest who investigates crimes in the little town of Gubbio, Italy. The interaction between characters: the priest, police, mayor of the town and others is delightful with some comedy. The mayor of the town who is a stunning, bright woman is dating the head of police. There are funny episodes with the housekeeper and her husband. There's no blood and guts, sex or profanity: Just good stories each episode. The scenery is lovely. The theme music is really enjoyable. The English subtitles are absolutely excellent. And, in my opinion, Terence Hill, who plays Don Matteo (Father Matthew) has the charisma of Cary Grant.

It is just that series who you deserves. Charming, touching, full of humor and proposing one of best roles of Terence Hill who gives to Don Matteo the fair traits defining a good priest who feels his mission more complex than you expect.

Nice dialogues, good doses of tension and drama, reasonable solutions and a wise exploration of the human nature.

In short, a good series with the only basic sin of change of cast time by time , sure, in the name of good cause but transforming it in a sort of puzzle.

It is that kind of old fashion and pure italian series, charming and cool , surprising in some moments and profound honest. And this , today, is more than a precious virtue.

I don't even know where to begin with this show.

It is addictive.

When I first started watching Don Matteo (consisting of almost 200 episodes in total since starting in 2000) on MHz Worldview International Mystery, it was on the advice of a good friend who'd stumbled across the channel and the international mysteries that air on it in the evenings. I didn't even know MHz existed down there in the Comcast 250's before that. "A detective priest!" my friend raved. "You'll love him!" At first watch, Don Matteo seemed crazy silly to me. About a bike-riding, cassock-wearing, priest (played by the endlessly energetic Terrence Hill -- of spaghetti western fame) who solves crimes because the local police force (the "Carabinieri") is (frankly) too incompetent to do it on their own.

There seemed to be about five basic plots for the shows that the writers of this series rehashed over and over AND OVER again, throwing in a slight variation here, changing a minor story line there (for example, there's the kayaking competition episode, the boxing competition episode, the bicycling competition episode... and then there's the episode where Natalina (one of Matteo's "side-kicks") gets a dog, another where she gets a baby. I could imagine the writers sitting around a table and looking at their blank pages and saying "let's do THIS again!" It all seemed... well... like I said, silly. And then, suddenly, I realized I was hooked. I love this show. I totally adore it. Yes. The characters are silly. The mysteries not very mysterious. The police are more like the Marx Brothers than SVU. BUT IT WORKS.

It is adorable and enjoyable and it makes me feel great to watch it on a good day, and it makes me feel better to watch it on a lousy day.

Much of the brilliance here falls directly on the capable shoulders of Nino Frassica, who plays Maresciallo Cecchini (one of the aforementioned Carabinieri). He's a physical comedy genius, and his interactions with his Captain (played by the equally enjoyable Simone Montedoro) are miracles of timing and humor. Some of my very favorite scenes in the series involve these two actors playing off each other with great skill and aplomb.

Terrence Hill is also magnificent in the starring role.

As I've written in another review, Italian mystery shows like this are a genre unto themselves. If there's a spectrum, and the Scandinavian mysteries like Wallander are on the ultraviolet end of the spectrum, Don Matteo is as far as you can get on the other side in the infrared. It is bright and funny and not at all subtle. This show is not so much about the mystery as it is about the characters, their relationships with each other and the world around them, and about morality, fairness and kindness, family and love.

And when the show hits pay dirt, like with the season 6 "Francesca e il lupo," it is extremely good.

Yes, as someone wrote, this show may be a vehicle for the Catholic Church (although Matteo does seem to be very open minded about many things the Church does not approve of). And it may be predicable and at times a little mind-numbing (there is a lot of comic relief in this show, but it is often played as a single note). However, Don Matteo is simply wonderful to watch.

Many thanks to MHz Worldview International Mystery for airing this series. As I write this review, I am anxiously anticipating the start of the seventh season of Don Matteo. Since being introduced to MHz I've had my eyes opened to these amazing shows made in Italy, France, Denmark, Sweden, and so on. MHz is a national treasure, and if you're not watching it, but like good mysteries, you should give it a try.