“”The Pink Panther”” follows along in Hollywood’s latest obsession with remaking old movies or old TV shows. This film, along with many others, falls short of the original.
“”The Pink Panther”” starts off with a bang, quite literally. During the World Cup game between France and China, Yves Gluant, the famous coach of the French team (Jason Statham), is assassinated at the end of the match while France pulls off the win. He is shot in the neck with a poisonous dart, and the huge priceless pink diamond ring he’s wearing, known as the “”Pink Panther,”” disappears in the ruckus.
Inspector Dreyfus (Kevin Kline), the head of the French police, is assigned to the case. He hires Jacques Clouseau (Steve Martin) to act as a diversion for the media and the rest of France, since he is already famous within the French police force for his clumsy antics. This way, Dreyfus can work behind the scenes at really solving the case without any distractions.
The question is, who killed Gluant? Was it a jealous French soccer player; Xania, the international pop star who was dating him (BeyoncǸ Knowles) or Yuri, “”the trainer who trains””?
The biggest problem of “”The Pink Panther”” is that it feels as though it’s not entirely sure how to measure up to the original. Should it completely stray from the way Peter Sellers molded the character of Clouseau or should it just do nothing more than an exact imitation of the old movies?
Martin definitely falls short of becoming the next Peter Sellers. Gluing on a fake mustache and adopting a really bad French accent does not turn him into Sellers. Seller’s performances in the old “”Pink Panther”” films were much more subtle and he really seemed to be oblivious to the fact that he made a mess of every situation. Martin just bumbles his way through a spectacular array of mistakes and overplays the oafishness of his character.
The chemistry between Martin and Kline is also a little lackluster. In the original “”Pink Panther,”” you could visibly see the character of Inspector Dreyfus gunning for Clouseau, who somehow always was able to outwit him. There was a genuine dislike. Kline always seems confused as to how to react to Martin’s idiocy. The scenes the two share should be the highlights of the movie, but they have trouble getting a good flow going. The comedy of the movie is also a little lowbrow, with fart jokes and Viagra references galore (I don’t think anyone really wanted to know that about Martin).
Every time I see a movie with another pop star trying to cross over into the acting world, it sends shudders down my spine. BeyoncǸ is actually one of the better actresses in the “”Pink Panther,”” which should really give notice to Kevin Kline and Steve Martin that it’s time to brush up on their acting chops.
