Wednesday, January 31, 2007

The Pink Panther (2006)

Starring Steve Martin and Kevin Kline

The Pink Panther (2006) is a silly slapstick movie. It gets its laughs with physical gags and the excruciating embarrassment that fuels farce. It is also a remake of a classic which starred British actor Peters Sellers.

For those who haven’t seen the original (or the many remakes), Inspector Jacque Clouseau of the French Police is a bumbling, awkward, seemingly incompetent policeman. His French accent is indecipherable (even to other Frenchman), and it’s a miracle that he is able to help solve crimes at all. As Clouseau, Martin manages to keep up with the silliness and pompous self-importance and strange accent of the character, and is superb with the slapstick heart of the man. He can cause more destruction in a hotel with a water pipe than you can almost imagine.

This movie is a prequel to the timeline of the original Pink Panther series. The excuse for the movie: a soccer coach is murdered, and the Pink Panther diamond he was wearing is stolen.
Police Inspector Dreyfuss (played in this film by Kevin Kline) comes up with a scheme to put an incompetent idiot on the case to run interference while he and his crack team of investigators solve the crime out of the spotlight and in turn earn the Legion of Honor. He teams Clouseau with a low-ranking detective (played by Jean Reno). The running gag of the movie is that Kline’s Dreyfuss is just as incompetent and clueless as Clouseau.

I love Kline, I love Martin, and I love Reno, but this movie didn’t fully gel. Kline’s French accent was much more charming (and consistent) in the hilarious remance French Kiss; also, Kline doesn’t hold a candle to Herbert Lom as the original Inspector Dreyfuss. Martin is convincing, but his Clouseau does not (unfortunately) fully measure up to the effortless zaniness of Peter Sellers’ version. Reno is kind of an afterthought, and the screenwriters didn’t seem to know quite what to do with him.

You should see this movie if you love Steve Martin, or if you’re in the mood for simple pratfalls, slapstick, and physical comedy. Despite my criticism above, I laughed a great deal during this movie, and had a good time. It may not have been as good as the original, but it is a funny movie in its own right.

Otherwise, seek out the original Pink Panther and its sequel A Shot in the Dark on DVD. They have a lovely leisurely pace that is seldom found these days. Modern movie makers seem to feel that they have to bombard you with action at every moment.

No comments: