brunorlenzi

I only found later that the movie was greatly inspired in Simenon's detective. Indeed the simplicity, unclear methods and distracted although focused attitudes corresponds to Maigret in great detail. The main difference is Depardieu's tender relationship with his wife, completely absent in the novel. Another difference, Bellamy's brother is maybe a weak point.

Major criticism refers to the lack of deepness of the characters and the plain performance of Depardieu. It did not affect me at all. The movie is light, intriguing and pictures nicely some aspects of French lifestyle. It was a pleasure to see Nimes and a joyful Maigret on the screen.

A great effort to get to the end. Mainly motivated by a review that claimed the end was not cliché I did not find the happiest ending but not surprise either.

The movie is full of clichés and desperate attempts to provoke tears with shots of beautiful French landscapes accompanied with a mixture of US country and classical (loud) music. As a result, the thoughts and dialogues are hard to follow during these which is maybe for the best.

The weak script relies on a remarkable amount of coincidences and helpful people on Isabelle Huppert's journey for redemption. Although not in her best performance she is the only one acting here.