Judy Thorburn

Pink Panther

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“PINK PANTHER” – STEVE MARTIN IS THE CLUELESS CLOUSEAU

When you see a movie role that was made famous by another actor you can’t help but compare the new with the original.  The role of French Inspector Jacque Clouseau from the series of Pink Panther movies of the 60’s is synonymous with the late great Peter Sellers.  Now, forty years later in a screenplay that he co-wrote, Steve Martin, in what is obviously a self-assured move, attempts to re-invent the character of the bumbling inspector and make it his own. Sellers was a unique talent who put his own spin on Clouseau, but Steve Martin does manage to create a few laughs with that wacky persona.

In this go around French Chief Inspector Dreyfus (Kevin Kline) with an ulterior motive in mind, appoints police officer Jacque Clouseau (Martin) to investigate the murder of a famous soccer coach and the disappearance of his ring, which held the beautiful, priceless diamond known as the Pink Panther. Dreyfus wants to finally get the Medal of Honor, an award he’s been nominated for 7 times but never won, and he believes that by hiring the “stupidest, most inept policeman in all of France”, he will achieve that honor by taking over the case and solving it after Clouseau screws up. In addition, Dreyfus assigns Gendarme Ponton (Jean Reno) to work with Clouseau so that he could be informed of their progress.

That premise lays the groundwork for Clouseau to be on the trail of suspects in picture postcard locations such as the streets of Paris and onto New York where he follows the victim’s girlfriend, the sexy and beautiful international pop star Xania (no stretch for Beyonce Knowles, who could use some acting lessons) for questioning. It doesn’t take much brainwork to follow this threadbare script.  Needless to say every situation features some sort of sight gag, puns, silly banter or lots of slapstick surrounding Clouseau’s investigation.  The level of humor, however, is inconsistent. Some work while others don’t. A run on bit has Clouseau creating havoc once he enters a room because of his paranoid belief that spies are hiding somewhere or has the place bugged. A few visual gags play homage to the original movie such as a runaway globe, which shows up every now and then crashing into whatever is in its path and like Sellers did to Cato, Martin attempts surprise attacks on his sidekick, which mostly falls flat. A surprise, uncredited cameo has Clive Owen as Agent 006 (couldn’t quite make 7) poking fun at the James Bond character and the fact that he was overlooked to take over that role.  Unfortunately, that sequence doesn’t lend anything to the plotline since it doesn’t go anywhere.

Martin is a good physical comedian and is great at using his face and body to create some very funny moments that are, of course, silly and over the top. For instance, his French accent continually destroys the English language and Martin seems to revel in a sequence that has him trying to pronounce hamburger. Sexual innuendos involving Clouseau being physically entangled with secretary/potential love interest Nicole (Emily Mortimer) in what appears to be compromising positions are a hoot as is the extremely hilarious “flatulence” moment in the sound booth that he thinks can’t be heard. Typical to the clueless Clouseau character is the fact that he is always totally oblivious to the consequences of his actions. That, in itself, tickles my funny bone.

So, it comes down to this.  If you like the kind of humor the original Pink Panther movies offered, this may well be right up your alley. Just don’t expect to continuously roar with laughter. Not the downright laughfest, Steve Martin’s Pink Panther is nevertheless, a somewhat amusing movie and not the CAT-tastrophy it might have been.

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