Movie Rental Review: The Pink Panther (2006)

I had been curious to see the new Pink Panther movies, with Steve Martin as Inspector Jacques Clouseau. I had kind of subconsciously chosen not to see them out of a sense of loyalty to Pete Sellers, who had played the Chief Inspector brilliantly in the movies that I grew up on (well, at least the reruns of those movies, in any case). So, this was the first time that I saw anyone else play him, to my knowledge (I don't believe I saw Roger Moore portraying him).

But I got the opportunity to see it recently, and was not sorry that I did. The face playing the famous character was different, but the humor was recognizable. Steve Martin added a new feel to the character, and it was not necessarily for the worse, either. He really played the character quite well, although it is still a bit difficult to picture anybody but Pete Sellers in the role. What I mean is that, although I enjoy martin as a comedian, and think he did the job fairly capably in this movie, I nonetheless saw Steve Martin, not Inspector Clouseau. With the older movies with Pete Sellers, I see Inspector Clouseau. Does that make sense? That''s not even Martin's fault. He is just quite famous, and has a very distinct look from most Hollywood stars.

This movie has many funny parts to it, much of it slapstick style comedy. This movie was a bit more daring sexually than the predecessor movies were, although that also is more a sign of the times, simply put.

Another difference was that Cato, Clouseau's constant fighting companion to help keep him on his toes, is not actually in this movie. In his place is Gilbert Ponton, played very capably by noted actor (and actually French!) Jean Reno. He seems Clouseau's superior in every way, and is essentially appointed to be Clouseau's constant companion by Chief Inspector Charles Dreyfus, played by Kevin Kline.

Dreyfus's character had some funny moments in the movie, but there is not the same sense of intense loathing and scorn for Clouseau, like there clearly was in the original movies. Not sure if it was the acting (Kline is usually a pretty good actor, particularly in comedic roles), or the scrip, or what. But the borderline mental breakdown of the original Dreyfus was not present here.

The movie essentially begins with a highly publicized murder mystery, where a famous coach who owns an even more famous diamond is killed in a very public setting under a cloud of mystery. Dreyfus picks some obscure, incompetent police officer who is unqualified and in over his head, more or less as a screen, before he himself will take over the investigation. For a while, that seems to be exactly how it happens, too, as everything goes according to plan.

Of course, not everything goes according to plan, especially with the infamous Inspector Clouseau. Much like in the original movies, Clouseau often gets lucky, credited with things that we, the viewer, know very well he should not receive credit over, thus fueling Dreyfus's madness.

Eventually, while trying to solve the case, Clouseau and his new counterpart, Ponton, go to New York City. Some of the funniest parts of the movie revolve around this, including the accent coaching of the hopeless Clouseau, who's accent is just too strong, and who himself is simply too clueless, to sound even remotely American. He also has some very funny scenes once in New York, as he marches a certain way that he assumes Americans must march like when crossing a public street.

Nicole Durant, played by Emily Mortimer, is Clouseau's love interest in this film, and she provides ample opportunities to enhance his idiocy throughout. She was a pleasant addition.

Overall, this is a good comedic movie. I have yet to have seen a bad or unfunny Pink Panther movie, and although I still probably prefer Sellers over Martin as Clouseau (and this is not even Martin's fault), this movie still delivers on the laughs. It was a fun couple of hours or so (I think it was probably a little shorter, actually), and if you enjoyed the other Pink Panther movies, like I did, you likely will not be disappointed. Go ahead and rent it or download it or borrow it, or however else you might wind up viewing it. It is not Peter Sellers, and that does indeed bother some people. But that said, it is a funny movie, and you will likely get a kick out of it.

I watched it, and not only did I not feel like it was a waste of time or money, but it was enticing enough to allow me to explore more on the Pink Panther 2 movie that followed this up, or perhaps to watch this one again, for that matter. Go out and watch this one!