Started off OK, but just plodded along to the point we just gave up 1/2 way through episode 3.
Really hate these shows that force you to read in fast forward cause everyone talks so fast. I'm watching TV, not reading a book. If these production companies insist on having multiple languages at least dub them into the appropriate language!
2/10
While I generally like Clive Owen, he appears to be delivering a poor homage to Humphrey Bogart.
The script of course is good - as is most everything else except for Owen and the cheesy saxophone score. It’s unfortunate that so many modern film noirs are caricatures of the old films.
As for Clivey-boy, I’ve suspected that he’s not a very good actor and this show has confirmed it. He delivers Spade’s one liners in a clumsy unnatural fashion. Fortunately he’s not as horrible as Liam.
Episode 4 begins with eleven shots fired at Jacques, apparently by eleven different people. That's the very definition of overkill... and that is the gist of this reboot or reimagining of Sam Spade...
After Humphrey Bogart, epitomised and eternalised the character, I am not sure if there was a need to reinvent the character of Sam Spade by relocating him from grittier settings that he knows like the back of his hand to the calm French countryside, where he constantly looks and behaves like a fish out of the water... but even if that change of setting was accepted and tolerated, what they did with the character per se is so confusing... that Clive Owen, chooses to chain-smoke, doesn't make the character comparative to Humphrey's Spade.
The episodes are not taut or riveting... the dialogues are needlessly serpentine... the plot is too sluggardly and abstrusive (weird combination, for what is the point of it being slow-paced if you are going to make it this contrived)... the entire mishmash makes it a very frustrating watch... add the overzealous use of French (and even as someone that understands basic French), I found the entire experience very tiring...
In a way, if you begin by knowing nothing of Sam Spade or his character, you might possibly like this series a lot better than I did... for me, this seems like a well-intentioned mess. I will complete this season, but if there is a second season, I might probably give it a miss...
Takes itself way too serious and overstays its own welcome as a result.
Even though this is already a miniseries, you could cut out like at least two episodes without losing much or speeding things up much. Overall, everything in this builds up and moves very slow, removing two episodes wouldn't take much of an impact on that, it's moving -that slow.
As a consequence the story is not particularly interesting as it is not really going anywhere worth your while. Additionally it jumps a few times around in places and characters who aren't quite memorable or interesting for that matter, so you can lose track quite easily when your mind starts to doze off. There is a lot of subtitles since this takes place in France and they at least try to partially go the authentic route with French speaking French people but I wouldn't say that anyone talks in any way fast here. It's rather normal speed. If you cannot keep up with that I'd suggest it's urgent for you to start reading anything.
To be honest one of Owen's lesser works.
Well, I really enjoyed that. The story is dark, convoluted, hard to follow, but the atmosphere is brilliant. And the quality of the production, recreating a village in France in the 60's (and 50's during the flashbacks) is really great. I'm a nitpicker, and i couldn't find a single anachronism in the entire show, even the plumbing was period. The only mistake I could pick was the title of the french cop which at the time in the french police would have been commissaire, not commandant though the cop cars he uses are from the Gendarmerie, a different cops corps, and in that case the rank was correct but he should have been wearing the corps' uniform while on duty. But apart from that little confusing bit, the recreation was great.
The ending though is a bit sloppy, bringing in Afre Woddard, to tie it all up in a scene assembling the main protagonists , has all the appearances of a lazy trick, but the slow burn of all that precedes, is reminiscent of some of the bests Chabrol movies, unearthing the festering secrets of a small town.
loved this actor he is a worthy successor to Humphrey Bogart
The reinvention of Sam Spade, taking him to France in 1963, is a move that nevertheless manages to be a journey with a nostalgic tone that recovers the calm pacing and sharp dialogues of film noir. A series that swims against the current, but that finds a particular tone in which the character speaking broken French ends up being funny. The end is somewhat sloppy, with too many characters coinciding in the night alleys of Bozouls and too many plots having to be resolved in a short time. But despite this, it's an enjoyable bet that makes you long for prestige TV when it was really prestigious.
I couldn't imagine Clive Owen playing Sam Spade because I couldn't imagine anybody following up my favorite actor, Humphrey Bogart. Owen did it the right way however and made the performance memorable in a way that resurrected Bogart without trying to pretend to be him. To see what I mean, just rewatch the Maltese Falcon and then move right into Monsieur Spade. The dialogue and its delivery drips of Bogey. I will miss this resurrection when this series ends and I probably won't make it another 65 years to see the next attempt.
most boring episode ever. not worth to watch
Note - This is available by 4pm Sunday in UK
Shout by Atmos BlackBlockedParent2024-01-30T22:56:18Z
When my wife (who usually sticks to horrible shows till the end) says to me half way through the first episode „Do you think something still will happen in this show?“ and I answer by switching the TV off and look for my Nokia 3110 to play Snake…this says everything you need to know about this exciting masterpiece of pure boredom and sadness…