With a couple of heavy hitters like Catherine Frot and Andre Dussollier you can cast them in anything and get a result. Even that most English of English crime writers Agatha Christie. A few years back Agnes Jaoui and Jean-Pierre Bacri adapted Alan Ayckbourne successfully in Smoking/No Smoking thus arguably setting a precedent of sorts. For all its comedic implications Smoking was rooted in reality whilst here we have a sort of fictional no man's land which is neither really English nor French but meets all the requirements of the genre from the slightly eccentric brace of retired sleuths to the supporting cast of assorted fruitcakes they meet on their travels. The plot, if you can call it that, needn't really detain us since it's merely a hook to hang some superior acting on. There's hardly a dull moment from beginning to end and half the fun is trying to determine which is which. Diverting? Oui. Entertaining? Oui. What are you waiting for.
Review of By the Pricking of My Thumbs
