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| Director
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Shawn Levy
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| Starring
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Steve Martin, Kevin Kline,
Jean Reno |
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| The plot of
The Pink Panther |
Inspector Jacques Clouseau (Martin) is tasked
by the duplicitous Chief Inspector Dreyfus (Kline)
to solve the murder of a famous soccer coach and
the disappearance of the infamous Pink Panther
diamond. |
The Pink
Panther Review
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Review by Brian
Lowry:
Finally unleashed after
multiple delays, "The Pink Panther" is neither
the disaster one might have suspected nor a fully realized
madcap farce; rather, Steve MartinSteve Martin's foray
as Inspector Clouseau exhibits bursts of wild-and-craziness,
but hardly enough to sustain even its relatively brief
running time. The result is a feature-length "Saturday
Night Live" sketch, with arid stretches interrupted
by moments of irresistible silliness. The real question
is whom this juvenile revival will attract, given that
the franchise would seem to possess little resonance
among modern youths -- its most likely audience -- beyond
Henry Mancini's marvelously playful original score.Using
the title of the 1964 original but little else, Martin
(who shares script credit) starts out as Officer Clouseau,
whose ineptitude catches the eye of Chief Inspector
Dreyfus (Kevin KlineKevin Kline, recycling his "French
Kiss" accent). With France's soccer coach murdered
and his famous Pink Panther diamond stolen, Dreyfus
sees an opportunity to achieve fame and renown -- especially
if he solves the cases after the newly promoted Clouseau
bumbles it.So after a moribund introductory sequence,
Clouseau is let loose on Paris, where he engages in
a series of pratfalls, misunderstandings and puns, pursuing
suspects that include the victim's girlfriend Xania
(Beyonce Knowles), an international pop star. He's also
saddled with a stoic sidekick, Ponton (Jean RenoJean
Reno), whose job is to report back to Dreyfus..more..
Review By Harvey Karten:
Steve Martin used to be the funniest guy around, especially
in his incarnation as Larry Hubbard in “The Lonely
Guy,” Dr. Michael Hfuhruhurr in “The Man
with Two brains,” and Pig-eye Jackson in “The
Jerk.” He’s best when he shows his vulnerability
and avoids going over the top into physical comedy.
When the script call for him to act like a modern Charlie
Chaplin or Buster Keaton, the small-fry may laugh, but
for a more mature audience, he’ll as many laughs
as Woody Allen doing shtick in Billings, Montana. In
“The Pink Panther,” his actions, which consist
largely of pratfalls and knocking over large objects
like a chandelier in the Waldorf-Astoria, are not using
his real talent, which he shows in more subtle roles.
After all, no matter how he’s costumed, he still
exudes white-bread and straight laces, and could probably
do a better job with wittier comedies of the Oscar Wilde
genre. He was ably cast in last year’s “Shopgirl.”In
“The Pink Panther,” he performs in the role
of the well-known Inspector Clouseau, a backwater French
cop who for cynical reasons is elevated by Chief Inspector
Dreyfus (Kevin Kline), to the status of inspector. When
a soccer coach (Jason Statham) is murdered in full view
of 12,000 fans at a soccer match (half the population
of the Czech Republic serving as extras in the stands,
the huge Pink Panther diamond he is wearing is stolen.
The Chief Inspector expects the bumbling, fumbling Clouseau
to mess up, whereupon Dreyfus would step in and solve
the case.The Saturday-Night-Live skits that are expanded
to a full-length picture find Clouseau in a variety
of locales, where he is determined to solve the murder
by interviewing a dozen suspects. Together with an assistant,
Ponton (Jean Reno), Clouseau goes through a list of
possible leads, gathering information from the likes
of the victim’s girl, international pop star Xania
(Beyonce Knowles) and Larocque (Roger Rees), who impersonates
Hugh Hefner as owner of a casino..More..
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