Maigret Sets a Trap (2016) – Review

For some Rowan Atkinson will always be Mr.Bean. When I was watching a review copy of the film and my father in law walked by he was waiting for something funny to happen. I had to make clear to him this wasn’t going to happen. Of course Mr.Bean was an iconic role, but I’m always able to separate actors from well-known roles. What’s Atkinson like in this detective?

Personally I had never heard of the character of Maigret, but it is one which has been created by Georges Simenon. This French detective/commissioner appeared in 76 books, 28 short stories and various shows. Now it’s up to Atkinson to step into his shoes. The story is set in Paris, 1955 and the neighbourhood of Montmartre is held in a tight grip by a couple of murders on several women. There don’t seem to be any similarities or links between them, except for them all having brown hair. It seems that a serial killer is on the loose, but without any clues and no story to give to the press the police isn’t helping in making the public feels safe. Maigret takes charge of the case and as the title already says sets a trap in order to try to get the killer out in the open. Of course that also means some risks if things go wrong and the question is whether or not Maigret is able to deal with the consequences of that.

 Maigret Set a Trap is a typical detective in the British tradition, which is set in France (where everyone speaks English). So it doesn’t have many surprises, but is nice to watch. That’s partly because of the nice sets and costumes really giving you the sense of looking at the fifties. The cast is strong in this one too. Atkinson has an air of authority and knowledge and you don’t doubt for a moment that he’s the one who will find the one responsible. It’s a movie made for TV and when watching it you do get that sense as there is lots of dialogue and no real big set pieces. Despite that though it’s an entertaining detective which does little wrong.