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Rating: Try this for a deep, dark secret. The great detective Remington Steele? He doesn't exist. I invented him".
Everything runs perfectly in Laura Holt's professional life (Stephanie Zimbalist). She runs her detective agency, "Remington Steele", using a fake name of a hypothetical boss, a skilled and reassuring male detective. One day, however, she crosses paths with a man (Pierce Brosnan) who holds in his wallet no less than five passports with five different identities (all names of characters portrayed by Bogart). The mysterious man will start impersonating Steele, and for Miss Holt and her agency, nothing will ever be the same, thus delivering to the history of TV series one of the most beloved couples ever.
The TV series "Remington Steele" originated in the early '80s, an era that now seems distant, in which today's dark shadows do not touch the viewer. There was no excessive science applied to crime, no docu-fiction like ER or the likes; everything was somewhat lighter and often of decidedly better quality. Other times when perhaps there was the time and desire to play with television, always creating something new using even complex and cultured languages. This series is a continuous homage to great cinema, from noir to comedy, from mystery to thriller; a continuous citation of more or less famous films perfectly fits into mystery plots that are never trivial and predictable. The character played by Brosnan will become famous for his continuous movie references during investigations, unconventional investigative insights that will initially drive his partner crazy. The duo of producers Robert Butler and Michael Gleason manage to create a television series that is still a pleasure to watch today. Roles in the pair are reversed, Zimbalist is skillful while Brosnan is initially disastrous in the investigative activity; light elements are inserted among the darker plots, and everything is then always presented with elegant photography and a fluid and concrete style. If one seeks a cinematic reference that captures the features of "Remington Steele", they might think of Stanley Donen's "Charade", much of this film is present in the plots that flow, blending together all the major cinematic genres, a not easy operation to achieve but particularly successful here. The producers skillfully create a character, that of Brosnan, who has neither a history nor a name and takes on the identity and life of a fictional character created out of necessity by a young investigator as an abstract, almost cinematic figure. A pleasant element is that the two protagonists love each other, and this is never hidden, helping the series to unfold smoothly, often creating enjoyable situations and charming diversions; after all, their relationship is complex and difficult to interpret.
From the initial testing phases of the first episodes of the first season, the Zimbalist-Brosnan duo will become increasingly bonded, with excellent acting timing both in dramatic and comedic tones. The series will continue for four seasons with 22 episodes each plus an additional fifth one, demanded by the public, with 8 episodes. It has been replayed multiple times on TV (La7 is currently airing the third season) but is not currently available in Italy on DVD due to rights issues. Its release has been announced several times and subsequently postponed. Note the musical theme composed by Henry Mancini (see review), which, with various arrangements, will lead the opening from the second season onwards.
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