This may be one of the most realistic Police Procedurals ever made. It's low-key to the point of virtually creating an H-minor. No prizes for guessing that Nathalie Baye is outstanding as a Commandant returning to duty after detox - she lost a son and found the sauce, not very original but very human - on the same day Jalil Lespert joins her squad. Fresh out of Training College Lespert badly misses his wife who has remained in their native Le Havre and is reluctant to join him in Paris. Two wounded birds cope as best they can in the day-to-day environment of a homicide squad which is woefully short on glamour/drama but high on realistic routine. A minor murder is investigated thoroughly but with little result i.e. very realistically. Don't look for happy endings tied up in pink ribbons but do look for top-drawer acting.
Review of The Young Lieutenant
