Customer Reviews

The Pink Panther [Blu-ray]

5 star:		(45)
4 star:		(46)
3 star:		(34)
2 star:		(26)
1 star:		(49)

 

 

Ah yes, the Pink Panther films of the 1960's and 1970's. Peter Sellers, hilarious French accents, pain and destruction gags, the Pink Panther diamond that kept getting stolen, the animated character who appeared in the titles sequence, and that famous theme song by Henry Mancini. Well, in this latest version of the film, clearly the latter five are present, given that Sellers passed away in 1980. Despite being identically titled to the original 1964 movie, this is clearly a Pink Panther movie for the current generation and technology, given the use of cellphones and references to the Internet and email.

The story? A French football coach, Yves Gluant, the owner of the Pink Panther diamond, is murdered after the French score the winning goal, the giant diamond which was shown on his fist on the stadium's giant screen TV, missing. Chief Inspector Dreyfus sees this as the chance to become a winner and not merely a nominee for the French medal of honour. He plans to have a total nincompoop in charge of a bogus investigation, while Dreyfus himself conducts the real one with smarter people. Guess who's in charge of the bogus one?

The suspects range from Bizu, a football player whose girlfriend, pop singer Xania, was stolen by Gluant. Then there's Raymond Leroq, the casino owner whom Gluant went into a partnership with, but whose gambling habit irritated Leroq. Xania, played with bootyliciousness by Beyonce Knowles, is well aware that Clouseau (Steve Martin) is gaga at the sight of her and uses her feminine wiles to... well, maybe divert suspicion?

Clouseau is given help in the form of Gilbert Ponton (Jean Reno), someone who is used to following orders. However, during the investigation, it's apparent that he is more competent than his superior. And Nicole the secretary gives him encouragement. Oh, and there's some unexpected help from a British agent who's one digit away from being on top.

The slapstick gags that garnered many a giggle or howl are present. As a nod to Sellers' Clouseau getting his hand stuck in a globe in the first PP movie, Martin's Clouseau sends the globe rolling down the stairs and into the street until it causes some cyclists to crash. And the pain gags, often at Dreyfus's expense are just as painful, such as a scene where Clouseau flips open his ID badge, only to have the badge fly out and pierce Dreyfus's chest. Hoewver, Kato, the Chinese manservant who attacked Clouseau randomly to keep the detective on his toes, is conspicuous by his absence. Here, it's Clouseau who randomly attacks Ponton, only to realize his subordinate is really on his toes.

Martin, who also has co-screenplay writing credit, manages the bogus French accent well, and he doesn't fare too badly as Clouseau, but his mannerisms can be overdone, and gags that are meant to be funny misfire. His failure to pronounce the word "hamburger" leads to an airport security sequence mirroring that of the Bean movie-what's the point?

One notable difference is the Dreyfus-Clouseau relationship. Whereas from A Shot In The Dark, Herbert Lom's Dreyfus was driven to insanity and hated Clouseau, Kevin Kline's Dreyfus is a more rational schemer and gloryseeker trying to get the glory he deserves. Those wild eyes and that smile are there, but he's not the over-the-top psychopath he was in A Fish Called Wanda.

While A Shot In The Dark and The Pink Panther Strikes Again stand as classics in the series, this one is at least better than Revenge of the Pink Panther and the lamentable Sellers-less Curse of the Pink Panther with Ted Wasson.

This 2006 movie remake is a comedy film with plenty of slapstick, sex jokes, fart jokes, and physical- type humor. It offers Kevin Kline and Steve Martin in the main roles and having watched the original Pink Panther and one of the Pink Panther follow ups (Return of the Pink Panther), I can say with confidence that this version isn't very good. With the original Pink Panther, you had David Niven and Peter Sellers in the starring roles in a comedy movie that was fun, original, and entertaining all the way through thanks to the performances and the script. With this version, you have a movie that relies on fart jokes, vases stuck to Steve Martin's hands, bullets falling out of a revolver, and other assorted silliness for its entertainment value.

In some ways, one can't help but laugh during certain moments of this film- even when the comedy isn't very mature or very original. Take for instance a scene near the beginning where Steve Martin's Inspector Clouseau character is trying to parallel park his small car between two other cars. There is plenty of room, but the idiotic Clouseau keeps backing the car and moving it forward, hitting the car in front and the car behind and causing the bumpers to fall off of each of the two vehicles. It isn't original and it isn't intelligent but you find yourself laughing anyway. Much of the comedy in the rest of the movie is of the same variety. It does make you laugh a little, but the humor is more the result of the comedy's goofiness than genuine funniness.

Among the performers in this movie, the only one worth mentioning is Steve Martin and his portrayal of the French- accented character, the bumbling Inspector Jacques Clouseau. Martin's Clouseau character is confidently incompetent- the type of person who thinks they are right about everything when they are actually right about nothing. Many critics have already attacked Martin because he isn't very much like Peter Sellers- the original Jacques Clouseau. It is inevitable that critics and viewers try to compare this movie and its performers to the original (I'm guilty of this, too), but I don't think it's fair to criticize Steve Martin for not being more like Peter Sellers. First, it would be very tough to match Sellers in playing the role of Jacques Clouseau. Second, Martin's character, aside from the accent, is really a character all his own- a new version, if you will, of Inspector Jacques Clouseau. If anything, Martin's character reminds me of the Clouseau from the Pink Panther cartoons. In fact, much of the comedy in this movie is like that of a cartoon. With the bumping, the banging, and the general physical nature of the humor, it reminds me of old Pink Panther cartoons with a touch of Bugs Bunny.

Other than Steve Martin, I didn't find anyone else in this movie particularly memorable. Kevin Kline was ok, and so was Beyonce Knowles. But no one stands out in this movie as someone who has contributed a great performance. Martin is the only one who gets your attention. The goofy French accent and his wild and crazy persona are the only parts of this movie that make it worthwhile, in spite of the sub par script and the slower than average pacing.

Overall, The Pink Panther is a comedy with few laughs, weak writing, and even less originality. It scores a few points for Steve Martin's zany portrayal of Inspector Jacques Clouseau, but other than that, the film is a wipe out. It's like a glass of American brewed light beer: Weak- bodied and wimpy but with just enough taste and ease of consumption to keep you from dumping it down the drain.

I can't understand why Hollywood should try to make remakes of the unremakeable. Peter Sellers can not be beaten and Steve Martin doesn't rate at all. Martin is decidely un-funny and should be ashamed of this abomination. The original is witty, classy, has an unbeatable cast of international skilled actors and actresses. This attempt to modernise it is truly awful. Save your money and buy the 1964 original with the great soundtrack of Henry Mancini.

With such wonderful characters that the Pink Panther franchise offers, in the proper hands, this movie could have been at least good, if not great, notwithstanding the fact that Peter Sellers is no longer available.

I'll spare the details concerning the plot, because it's not interesting or important, and it is not the plot that ruins this movie.

What is noteworthy is the fact that Steve Martin is completely miscast, and more to the point, NOT FUNNY! As Peter Sellers' Clouseau was routinely convincing and even indearing, Martin's is habitually uninspired and annoying.

Having recently seen Geoffrey Rush 'as' Peter Sellers, in the 'Life and Death of Peter Sellers'(2004), I think Mr. Rush could have slipped into the Clouseau role in a truly stunning, seamless, and perhaps even creepy way. Martin is essentially trying to do the same thing, but it doesn't work.

Kevin Kline is also miscast, and only slightly better in the role of the perpetually frustrated Dreyfus. Pop star Beyonce is pleasant eye candy and her formulaic musical contribution is only a minor distraction. Secondary players Emily Mortimer and Jean Reno are best cast as Clouseau's assistant Nicole, and sidekick Ponton.

Henry Mancini's Panther theme music is still prominently featured, however some of the newer musical scoring is out of place. Also out of place are the tasteless flatulence 'gags' which today's Hollywood is enamored with and finds endlessly amusing.

This movie is just over 90 minutes, but it felt like two painful hours had passed as the final credits rolled.

It's difficult to find anything nice to say about this movie, but there is a nice extra feature worth mentioning on the special edition dvd, about the creation of the new Pink Panther animated title sequence.

Perhaps the funniest, (and also the saddest) thing about this movie, is that the animated opening title sequence is actually the best part of this film and dvd.

Anyone who saw Martin's version of "Sgt. Belko" should have seen this version of "The Pink Panther" coming like a bad car wreck.

Martin is always better off with original material rather than a re-imagining of old,well-known classic material made famous by other comedians/actors. Do you think any other comic on the planet could do a remake of "The Jerk"?

On the "Pink Panther" movie itself; it was not just a poorly done rehash, but it missed the point of Seller's dry delivery and slapstick mishaps as the clueless Inspector Clouseau.

There was just not one memorable, laugh out loud moment I can recount in the whole film. Probably because I was constantly thinking how horribly mis-cast this film was.

If ANYONE should have been Couseau, it should have been Kevin Klein. His performances in "A Fish Called Wanda" and "French Kiss" proves his comedic chops.

Reno as Martin's assistant was another blunder. Where the hell was Cato? A major missing link in the Clouseau chain.

Stilted, vapid and utterly predictable. And that was just Beyonce. The rest of the movie was even worse. There was exactly one laugh in the whole thing -- the end credits list a dialect coach for Kevin Kline! In one scene he's English, the next he's kinda-sorta French, and in the next he just gives up altogether.

You know how in Jerry Lewis movies you can always tell what the gag is going to be about 10 seconds before it happens? Every time? This movie bests that by about 15 seconds.

This version of "The Pink Panther" has had a rough journey to the theaters as the powers-that-be at MGM/Sony felt that the original version of it was too racy and that Clouseau (a hilarious Steve Martin) was too much of a letch.
After re-shoots, 5 million dollars and delays in the release date from last summer, "The Pink Panther" has finally opened and, though the story is a little creaky it is very, very funny, sometimes even hilarious and Martin's Clouseau is perfect: more homey, less weird than Peter Sellers...but definitely a successful interpretation.
The story involves the Pink Panther diamond, a pop singer (bombshell Beyonce' Knowles), a soccer manager's murder (Jason Stratham) and around once again to use and abuse Clouseau, Chief Inspector Dreyfus (a muted Kevin Kline).
Some of the racy double entendres were thankfully left intact and Clouseau's relationship with his assistant Nicole (a funny, sexy Emily Mortimer) is warm and witty....something that Sellers's Clouseau could never quite attain.
"The Pink Panther" 2006 is a barrel of laughs and yet its comedy is thankfully rooted in the things that make us human: it's a major change from the previous incarnation but a welcome one and an artistic success nonetheless.

For whatever the reason, over the last few years, Hollywood seems to be stuck in a rut of sequels, remakes and recycled material. One of the latest is "The Pink Panther", a movie which in my opinion should have never been made. Steve Martin stars as the bumbling French Inspector Jacques Clouseau, the role made famous by the late Peter Sellers, who has been assigned a very high profile murder / robbery case for sole purpose of distracting the press as the "real" team of investigators solve the case behinds the scenes. Unfortunately the plot of this film is useless and nearly nonexistent. It seems that the movie exists as nothing more than an excuse for Martin to get back to the box office after his surprise hit "Bringing Down the House". Many of the gags that Sellers executed to perfection in the original films seem tired and unoriginal, and honestly just aren't very funny. Even the supporting cast which include Kevin Kline (De-Lovely), Jean Reno (The Professional) & yes even Beyonce Knowles were unable to save this film from what I consider a less than mediocre attempt at comedy. I admit that the gimmick of Pop Singers crossing over into films is beginning to wear thin, as it seems that more and more movies are nothing more than an excuse to spotlight a hot Pop Star singing one of their latest hits. The bottom line is I found nothing in this film that made me even crack a smile, however my seven year old son thought the movie was very funny. I'm not sure that this was the target audience for "The Pink Panther", but at this point they should take what they can get. Don't waste your money on a purchase or even a rental, wait for the television debut, since the PG rated film will lose very little in the translation from big screen.

Of course, like most people, I hope this hilarious movie has a sequal. The end was really cool and dramatic, which I liked. Better than the original, "The Pink Panther" made me laugh out loud until my side ached and my eyes watered.
Those enourmous microscopy glasses thingies that the Inspector wore were very funny. When I watched the movie, I had lots of suspects in my mind. It was brilliant!
Overall, it is a very funny movie. I want to buy the DVD.

simple enough questions. let's deal with the why? first. not so much why the pink panther, but why have remakes become such a big deal? my fears over this, j-horror films, assualt on precinct 13 and texas chainsaw massacre have in the main proved sadly justified. plus we've got the butchering of oldboy to look forward to - hurrah for hollywood! worrying times when these films get the green light and the likes of 'idiocracy' gets buried -maybe because that film said something no-one wanted to hear. maybe if they stopped producing such insipid garbage as friends or big brother we could start afresh with some brave new ideas.
anyway, i digress. as a fan of peter sellers i'll admit to being prejudiced against steve martin (or anyone for that matter) attempting to portray him. an aside on alan arkin, who did a reasonable enough job to his credit and was helped by the fact that he did the second film, rather than say the fourth or fifth, by which stage sellers had made clouseau his own.
enough of this windy preamble and on to teh film itself, and the how? aspect. which of course means how can anyone find this film funny? whereas sellers' interpretation always came across as bumbling yes but essentially harmless (well, you know what i mean). martin turns him from bumbling fool into at the denouement a brilliant detective with an extraordinary memory. seems a bit of of synch (sp) with the main part of the film, non? sadly he also overacts on a scale i haven't seen in quite some time, to the extent where it became painful to watch.
there are maybe one or two funy moments, but in the main the comedy is so heavily signposted that by the time the joke arrives it falls flat on its face. how far have you fallen from/ since 'the man with two brains' steve? its also a shame to see the talents of kevin kline, jean reno and emily mortimer (who admittedly i have a bit of a thing for) wasted. similarly beyonce doesn't have much to do apart from sound (and look!) great.
plus, and i mentioned this in a review on the 'uk' site, clouseau is a frenchman. so why the hell is he using the s word, when everyone in france call the occasionally beautiful game football? could this be an american influence or something? really, do your research, or get your character studies right.
and please guys, no more remakes. what's next? i heard taxi driver was in the works...