So we take craggy faced Sam spade out of San Francisco, move him to France after that messy Maltese deal, put him on a new case he has no more hope of completing than a drifter cadging a breakfast t-bone at John’s Grill and we’re off and running with “Monsieur Spade,” currently on NetFlix.
Big Shoes to fill. We mean, we’re talking the iconic San Francisco gumshoe, the guy who romanced Brigid O’Shaugnessy and slapped Two-Guns Wilmer around before springing Brigid from the prison he put her in, her daughter now in the picture, life’s ironies surrounding the guy like the Bay fog that swallowed Miles Archer.
Stylish, lushly filmed against an engaging European background a la the recent, equally engaging “Ripley,” we’re reintroduced to an older, heavier Spade (Clive Owen) as he fights his fluid-filled lungs and his past, pocket flask at the ready and backup gats kept in hollowed out books. There’s a seemingly friendly police inspector, a mysterious monk, a country still reeling from Nazi collaboration and partisan retribution, burgeoning political problems in North Africa – and then there’s the matter of the six murdered nuns.
Creators Scott Frank and Tom Fontana channel their inner Hammett and put Owen out front as Spade, keeping him world-weary and sardonic and putting good words in his mouth. The six-part miniseries came out fast as an early contender for one of the best series of the year and rolls along at speed if you tune your ear to the machine gun pace of the dialogue.
We find Spade in 1963 France, living out his days in a market town that has accepted him, ensconced in the estate of his late wife, Gabrielle (Chiara Mastroianni, daughter of Marcello Mastroianni and Catherine Deneuve), and indulging himself with good food, wine, and nude swims in the estate pool. But an indulgent lifestyle is put aside when an old nemesis named Philippe Saint-Andre (Jonathan Zaccai) arrives back in town at about the time six local nuns are murdered in their chapel and Spade puts himself on the case.
A cast of colorful characters keeps the detective on tip-toe. There’s Teresa (Cara Bossom), the 15-year-old he’s been tasked to protect; Patrice Michaud (Denis Ménochet), the cynical chief of police; two eccentric and highly suspicious Brits (Matthew Beard and Rebecca Root) who move in next door; and a PTSD-addled war vet (Stanley Weber) – not to mention the various political and religious forces that land on Spade and his village in the final episode, peppered by some unexpected cameo appearances that raise the show’s profile considerably.
To be sure, everything is squarely on Owen’s shoulders, his Bogey/Spade delivered with precision, the bon mots rendered with casual audacity and given credence by their cadence. Good writing, to be sure, but also good acting and camera work and lots of layers to peel if one is so inclined.
As we were.
Availability: Currently running on Netflix
We enjoyed this very much when it was released though some of our American friends found it to be a little too European for them. Others liked it. Owen is a favorite of ours and would have made a good Bond before that opportunity passed him by and his career suffered for a bit. Still he has been in some great movies and has done well.
Ughhhhh
I could do without this type of article here.
Please stick to local news.
Which I very much appreciate and respect you for. Really. I do.
Looking forward to their next recommendation.
Did they somehow FORCE you to open and read a clearly marked movie review??? Help me understand.
Keep doing what you do 24680 – don’t listen to nincompoops.
Thanks!
He would have made a great 007.