Wonderful character development!

The movie's not perfect, but it sticks the landing of its message. It was engaging - thrilling at times - and I personally thought it was a great time.

One of the most extraordinary films you will see this year. Take that as you want.

It's simply great fun, a winsome film and an occasionally over-the-top luxury fantasy that never flags.

This is a dark, thick marmalade with a strong taste of bitter oranges.A very appropriate description for the Inspector Lewis series.The Inspector Lewis crime mysteries are thick with counter plots leaving plenty of room for digesting many suspects in our thoughts.The scripts are strong and deliciously diverse. You are never quite sure what will arouse your mental palate next.The blending of the 'coaser'northern yet compassionate temperament of Lewis is delicately complimented by the more refined and almost zen-like and endearing intellect of Seargent Hathaway. The whole concoction gives a piquant flavour which is perfectly produced and acted within wonderful settings in Oxford that tempt you to rest in tradition but vault you into the present.Just as that marmalade on the toast in the morning launches you into the day as the flavour hits your sensesStanding in it's own right this series is amazingly good. It is not possible, however,to totally separate this series from the indelible Morse.It's like toast and marmalade.It is sufficient to say,however,that Lewis is as impressive as Morse - perhaps more so since Morse set the level very high. All in all a most excellent marmalade.

I won't go on too long with my comments. Well, too long, perhaps, anyway. I already noted my big concerns about this series already. I'm going through the "Morse" and "Lewis" series in sequence, and here I am - mixing past and present tenses. I know it's all old news and that I'm writing this in an obscure corner of IMDb.Several of the reviewers here have it right. "Lewis" is weak compared to "Morse" in numerous ways. Times change, producers change, visions change.However, why do the changes of time, production and vision inevitably seem to move in the direction of laziness, cheap thrills, superficial glitter and decay of respect for characters as representatives of real humanity and human issues as they are actually lived?This episode was silly. The writing was cynically formulaic, although one wonders if the writer has the kidney to be consciously cynical. Apparently the intended audience became that impatient bunch who can't be bothered with anything requiring thought, but require the equivalent of an adolescent's screen saver (not that in 2015 any adolescent knows what that is). The images run, inexorably:Honeyed Stone of Oxford UnicornLovely Young FaceArrogant Old OxfordianPosh GatheringHoneyed Stone of OxfordHorrific MurderArrogant Old Oxfordian Lovely Young FaceA Chase/A Rush/A Threat/A CLIMAXHoneyed Stone of OxfordAll interspersed with shots of Old Increasingly Wise Lewis/Younger Tortured Hathaway."Inspector Lewis" is entropic television. It is an colorful, oily puddle made successful because of its positioning to reflect something better - and real.The worst of it is that the actors and their characters are wasted and caught in the drift. The regulars are marvelous performers.

When I want to see an action film or a thriller, no one, in my opinion, beats stuff made in North America. That being said, no one makes better mysteries than the British, and the "Inspector Lewis" series is proof positive of that. Kevin Whately is a stand-out as the eponymous character, a diligent yet sympathetic policeman who wears his middle-class background as proudly as he does his badge. It's nice to see Whately taking the helm in this series as it's lead after playing the wingman in the "Inspector Morse" shows for so long. He doesn't try to assume the John Thaw role but instead keeps this character all his own. James Fox is the perfect fit as his younger, book-smart partner Hathaway, a dude who can quote just about anything from anywhere, thanks in part to his scholarly background in Theology. These two guys have a very believable chemistry as police partners who work with each other's strengths (Lewis has the hunches it seems and Hathaway has his logic) to solve the multiple mysteries that crop up in the college town in Oxfordshire where they toil. The mysteries presented in the show are never too easy to figure out, giving you just enough clues to try to follow along. Often times it's a really cool surprise when the who-dun-it is solved at the end. I also want to add that, in addition to a great cast, great writing and so forth, they don't flog you with loud obvious music throughout that gives too much away (though yes, there is SOME music and it's quite nice actually). I'm a fan of this show and I hope they keep this series with it's fantastic cast going for a long time to come.

Lewis hits the spot for me. Great location shots of Oxford, typically unbelievably complicated plots where the destination seems less important than journey, and Kevin Whately's now rather world-weary Inspector Lewis trawling his way through police procedure to arrive at the right solution.I like Laurence Fox as Lewis' laconic and slightly acerbic assistant Hathaway. This is a working partnership not one of close camaraderie - and that works for me. At least in series one, the writers have refrained from throwing random romance in the way of Lewis - other series go a bit too far with distracting love interests - and this means our heroes can concentrate all their energies on cerebral outcomes rather than physical ones.All in all, a very competent and enjoyable series. 9/10