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The Return of Happy Feet:
The Pink Panther
2-10-06 "Knight Thoughts" web exclusive
by Richard Knight, Jr.
The Pink Panther
2-10-06 "Knight Thoughts" web exclusive
by Richard Knight, Jr.
After a slow start, Steve Martin's Clouseau lifts off
A remake of The Pink Panther for a new generation seems at first a sacrilegious idea. Who could possibly hope to replace the inspired
lunacy of Peter Sellers? MGM is betting that another inspired lunatic – Steve Martin – can revive their once valuable franchise and in
the process continue another. Surprisingly, this supposed “prequel” might just have a shot at doing that.
The gigantically stupid Inspector Clouseau (Martin) from the French Provinces is brought to Paris by the egocentric Chief Inspector
Dreyfus (Kevin Kline with an accent wavering between French and English) to publicly try and solve the murder of a hated soccer coach
and the simultaneous theft of the fabled pink panther diamond. Naturally, this being an attempt to attract a youthful audience,
Beyoncé is added to the mix as a pop singer and on again/off again girlfriend of the dead guy who has a yen for diamonds. As in
all Beyoncé’s film roles to date, she’s given a great song to sing and not taxed with having to do much acting (if she is to become a
movie star this will have to change. With Dreamgirls – coming at the end of this year – she will have a chance to do that). I would
have preferred ravishing Monica Bellucci, this generation’s Capucine (who starred in the original) in place of Miss Knowles, given my
druthers. She would have added much needed wattage to the film.
After a dud introduction of Clouseau and the animated title sequence (usual for the series) over Henry Mancini’s still fresh Pink
Panther theme (this time gussied up with now-now arrangements by Christophre Beck), the film slowly gets into gear. But it picks up
speed with Martin eventually finding just the right tone to make one, if not forget Sellars, at least hold his memory in abeyance.
However, in place of Clouseau’s crazed assistant Cato, we have Jean Reno (sadly wasted) enlisted as Martin’s straight man. This is
a missed opportunity as Reno's a terrific comedian given the right script and direction.
Much of this will be familiar to fans of The Naked Gun movies but Martin adds both a dash of physical and verbal wit that those non-
stop pratfall/sight gag parody fests are missing. It’s great to see Martin, one of our greatest clowns, return to form in a very funny
scene in which Clouseau is determined to master an American accent and verbally repeats for his prim dialect coach “hamburger”
over and over again.
Less welcome is the tired, homophobic two men forced to share a double bed sequence between Martin and Reno. And though Emily
Mortimer, who was memorable in Woody Allen’s Matchpoint as the cuckolded wife, is given plenty to do as Clouseau's assistant, both
Kristen Chenoweth and Henry Czerny are underutilized.
If anyone should be doing the happy feet dance over this, it’s Sony/MGM, who have made a much better attempt at reviving the
series than their dreadful Roberto Benigni sequel. This Pink Panther is not as stellar as Sellers but it’s not a disgrace either.
lunacy of Peter Sellers? MGM is betting that another inspired lunatic – Steve Martin – can revive their once valuable franchise and in
the process continue another. Surprisingly, this supposed “prequel” might just have a shot at doing that.
The gigantically stupid Inspector Clouseau (Martin) from the French Provinces is brought to Paris by the egocentric Chief Inspector
Dreyfus (Kevin Kline with an accent wavering between French and English) to publicly try and solve the murder of a hated soccer coach
and the simultaneous theft of the fabled pink panther diamond. Naturally, this being an attempt to attract a youthful audience,
Beyoncé is added to the mix as a pop singer and on again/off again girlfriend of the dead guy who has a yen for diamonds. As in
all Beyoncé’s film roles to date, she’s given a great song to sing and not taxed with having to do much acting (if she is to become a
movie star this will have to change. With Dreamgirls – coming at the end of this year – she will have a chance to do that). I would
have preferred ravishing Monica Bellucci, this generation’s Capucine (who starred in the original) in place of Miss Knowles, given my
druthers. She would have added much needed wattage to the film.
After a dud introduction of Clouseau and the animated title sequence (usual for the series) over Henry Mancini’s still fresh Pink
Panther theme (this time gussied up with now-now arrangements by Christophre Beck), the film slowly gets into gear. But it picks up
speed with Martin eventually finding just the right tone to make one, if not forget Sellars, at least hold his memory in abeyance.
However, in place of Clouseau’s crazed assistant Cato, we have Jean Reno (sadly wasted) enlisted as Martin’s straight man. This is
a missed opportunity as Reno's a terrific comedian given the right script and direction.
Much of this will be familiar to fans of The Naked Gun movies but Martin adds both a dash of physical and verbal wit that those non-
stop pratfall/sight gag parody fests are missing. It’s great to see Martin, one of our greatest clowns, return to form in a very funny
scene in which Clouseau is determined to master an American accent and verbally repeats for his prim dialect coach “hamburger”
over and over again.
Less welcome is the tired, homophobic two men forced to share a double bed sequence between Martin and Reno. And though Emily
Mortimer, who was memorable in Woody Allen’s Matchpoint as the cuckolded wife, is given plenty to do as Clouseau's assistant, both
Kristen Chenoweth and Henry Czerny are underutilized.
If anyone should be doing the happy feet dance over this, it’s Sony/MGM, who have made a much better attempt at reviving the
series than their dreadful Roberto Benigni sequel. This Pink Panther is not as stellar as Sellers but it’s not a disgrace either.