Sam Spade! France! 1960s! 6 hours to tell a compelling story! Big budget! What could go wrong? A lot. After episode 1, I am tempted to say that Monsieur Spade is on track to disappoint on each of these points. Sam Spade: Clive Owen's take on the character of Sam Spade is to deliver each line in the same monotonous way, trying to come across as stoically as possible. This interpretation completely lacks the depth of Bogart's portrayal who was able to display subtle hints of feelings, culminating in a smirk once in a while. France: Monsieur Spade is set in the south of France, which is the next big missed opportunity. This area is stunning in natural beauty. However, the locations shown in M. Spade. Are limited to the Spade mansion, close-ups of cars driving along the same country roads and the same recurring shot of the village the story takes place in. French: About a third of Sam Spade's lines are delivered in French. Badly pronounced French. If you are able to understand French, you will wonder why Spade still speaks like an advanced learner after spending 8 immersive years in a francophone environment. If you do not understand French, this will force you to follow the dialogs by reading lots of subtitles. 1960s: Even though they found lots of 60's props, M. Spade fails to create an authentic 60's vibe. Having everybody smoke and a few references to Algeria are not sufficient to take the viewers back in time. And even the smoking aspect fails to convince as it is plain to see that a some of the cast have not held a cigarette before shooting this series. 5 hours to go: Not sure I am too excited about what comes next. I guess I will switch to some other series before eventually coming back to this one - or not.

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