Monsieur Spade

It's 1955 rural France. Sam Spade (Clive Owen) is searching for Philippe Saint Andre, the father of his charge, a girl named Teresa. He's been hired by Teresa's late mother who is his former lover and had stolen a large sum of money. He faces many obstacles with the disappeared Philippe. He places Teresa with the nuns at a local orphanage. It's 8 years later and Teresa is turning 18. She is set to receive the large sum from a trust and her thieving father is rumored to have returned. One night, Sam finds the girls locked in their room, Teresa missing, and the nuns brutally murdered.

The story is a bit of a mess. It starts great but ends muddled. I don't like the McGuffin boy. He is really just an object rather than a living breathing character. The girl is a much better subject. It is almost a comedy when they get to the final sit-down and calling out all the characters. I really like Clive Owen doing his Sam Spade. It's impossible to get away from Bogie but this is a fun interpretation. Stay for Clive.

The first five episodes of this series wasn't bad and the story seemed destined to keep us in suspense. However, like any other series in the age of binge watching this one abruptly ends in the dumbest way. You know it's bad when everything is wrapped up in the last ten minutes. Clive Owen is really good as the witty, wisecracking, hard-nosed Sam Spade, but he is the story so allow him to be the story. The cast in the film are pretty good. The show is shot in France and the scenery is beautiful. You could say the scenery is also a character. Monsieur Spade is good, but needs more Sam Spade.cdm.

This is so beautifully shot it's surprising to watch. Even the first scene, as Spade looks at a house uphill and the cameraman shoots him from below, so we're also looking up at Spade...is a surreal experience. The location does help, but oh, this is pretty to watch. Usually, period pieces from eras OTHER than the 60s or 70s are better done, but this one is as it should be; again, it probably helps that it's set in France. I don't even like France, and I've been there several times, but this makes me want to give it another go, but to a rural locale next time. In one episode, we are so drawn in to the character development and plot arcs that, by far, the only annoying issue here is the weekly episode release. Owen gives a good performance, but it's an ensemble piece and they are ALL phenomenal - this impresses me bc I knew none of them, came for him, stayed for them. Though there is a nude scene that I will be re-watching a FEW times. Thank you to the writers, producer, director, cameramen, crew: the pool scene is a gift to the world.

As to the noir mystery element, I've read this style of literature and watched these types of films for decades - and just wow. Please, money-people in the studios: more of THIS.

Monsieur Spade started off intriguing, with complex characters and an air of mystery befitting a Neo-noir detective drama. Clive Owen brought a gritty gravitas to the iconic role of Sam Spade, while the show explored his retirement in 1960s France with promising plot twists. However, it ultimately rushed the conclusion in a disappointing final episode full of tedious exposition dumping. The show failed to stick the landing after a strong setup, leaving an unsatisfying payoff for both the overarching mystery around a mysterious child as well as Spade's personal character arc. While the performances remained compelling throughout, the writing let down both the talented cast and the audience by the end.

Rating: 5.75 out of 10.

The show has some great things going for it - beautiful setting and cinematography, great rendition of an older Sam Spade by Clive Owen, some interesting supporting characters (and their respective actors). Most importantly it has a achieved a great mix between its Southern France atmosphere and its noir story roots.

What isn't so good is the convoluted plot - new agents and sides are introduced constantly, throughout all the episodes. I guess as a way to add more mystery rather than create it with a more tight and better written plot. To the point where it leads to quite unsatisfactory ending where too many sides rush to battle it in the smallest of places in an already too small for them French village. It's already ridiculous, and even another sloppy deus ex machina is needed for the story to reach some conclusion.

I still give it a 7/10 rating, because its premise and main characters were satisfying and still carry greater potential for further seasons. But only with better writing than this, because current season is enjoyable only if you turn a blind eye for all the unnecessary plot convolutions, and enjoy the good parts instead.