Can I have your word? Yes. Are you a man of your word? No.

Continuing my trip down The Guardian's Top 50 TV Shows of 2021.  

#45 : Lupin 

The story of a century-old French gentleman thief might not have screamed “blockbuster”, but that’s what Lupin was. Updated to contemporary Paris, Lupin became a sensation this year, largely due to the juggernaut charisma of star Omar Sy.

I'd heard this was good but just never bothered checking it out - I know there's some thievery going on, but apart from that, I know nothing.

And yeah, there is indeed some thievery and it is indeed good.  I'm not sure I should really say a lot more - it feels like one of those things that rewards minimal knowledge.  In another review, The Guardian said it was like Sherlock and I can go with that - it's all very clever, particularly in the first half which features some cool heists whilst the second half has slightly more of a thriller vibe to it with some moments of real tension.  And then the last episode is great with some very neat "ohhh" moments - even if it does feature a little too much running around.  Overall I can think of no higher praise than saying I'll be amazed if there isn't a US remake - which I'm sure will ruin large swathes of it.

As The Guardian states, a lot of what works is down to "the juggernaut charisma of star Omar Sy" - he really does a fantastic job of being very charming throughout.  Everyone else in the thing does a good job but their main task is basically to react to him - Antoine Gouy is tolerant as his childhood friend, Ludivine Sagnier is exasperated as his ex-wife, Clotilde HesmeIt is charmed as his posh totty and Etan Simon is starstruck as his son.  Of the rest, Hervé Pierre stands out as the baddie - but it is a bit of moustache-twirling cliche of a role.

As well as being well acted, it's also well written.   On this front, I'm also going to call out the child actors used to portray the younger versions of the main characters because they do a great job of tying the timelines together believably.  It also seems to tie in nicely with the Arsene Lupin books - I suspect famliarity with the original material helps but it's not essential (like the Sherlock adaptations).  All in all, the story hangs together nicely and barrels along with some pleasing swerves and diversions along the way.

It's also very well shot, with Paris looking particularly lovely, both by day and night - it's nice to see a different city from usual as both the backdrop and, at times, the star (it helps I was there only a couple of weeks ago!) and they certainly make the most of it (and I wish I'd gone to the catacombs now).

Wikipedia tells me this was, at the time, the most watched non-English Netflix series - although that record was somewhat obliterated by Squid Game later in the year.  It was well received critically as well, with a LOT of comments on Omar's performance.  All in all, it's very engaging with just the right levels of charm, fun, skill and tension - there are far worse ways to fill your time (and I say this as someone who has three fans of IACGMOOH in the house at the minute).

#44 - Surprisingly enjoyable
#46 - A missed opportunity