PREMIERE.COM'S REVIEW (posted 2/10/06)

Few recent movies have had the deck as highly stacked against them as The Pink Panther. Its release was delayed several times before settling into February (the month where studios send movies to die); its trailer was virtually laugh-free; and its star, Steve Martin, had been abusing his talents with focus-group–tested blandness like Bringing Down the House and the Cheaper by the Dozen movies. Not to mention that Panther, a remake of the legendary Peter Sellers films, had a lot to live up to from the start. It’s a minor miracle, then, that this new adventure with the hapless Inspector Clouseau has turned out to be one of the most uncomplicatedly hilarious movies in quite some time.

The plot that Martin and writer Len Blum came up with concerns a big pink diamond. Several people want it and may have committed murder to get it. Kevin Kline’s unctuous Commissioner Dreyfus places the staggeringly inept Clouseau (Martin) on the case, giving the media someone to chase after while Dreyfus himself attends to solving the crime. Needless to say, before long, the worm has turned.

There's at least one good guffaw in every scene, and generally many more than that. The recurring bits are trotted out just enough that they don't wear out their welcome. And the few that don’t come off are helped by the fact that 10 better gags follow right behind. Martin’s gift for playing men with an unassailable sense of self-confidence makes him an ideal Clouseau. The scene in which he attempts to master an authentic American accent in preparation for a trip to New York—and massacres the word “hamburger”—justifies the film's ticket price all by itself. Kline excels at playing the kind of stuffy, self-satisfied dolt we think of as a Kevin Kline character anyway. Jean Reno shows up as Clouseau’s sidekick, conveying more with his hangdog expression than other actors could with pages of dialogue. The sexy international pop star who gets mixed up in the action is played, in a triumph of offbeat casting, by Beyoncé, acquitting herself nicely. And the film contains the first celebrity cameo in eons that actually works (although there are really three cameos, if you count the suspiciously familiar singers who back up Beyoncé in her big musical number).

Don't go if you’re looking for polite, restrained humor: Panther is a good example of a dumb movie for smart people. Various unfortunate souls fall through ceilings, are whacked by assorted flying objects, and occasionally explode, among other classic slapstick situations. The film's good-hearted, open spirit makes it a fine outing for the mischievous ten-year-old boy in all of us. (If you don’t have one, you might wind up like the excessively self-serious group ahead of me on the escalator after the movie, muttering darkly about the “terrible French accents.” Point, you have been missed.)

Yes, The Pink Panther is yet another example of Hollywood’s growing reliance on remakes, prequels, and reimaginings, but this one will make you laugh early and often, and send you out of the theater in a cheerful mood. And, really, what more could you ask? —John Migliore

Related Links:
• Defend Your Remake
Director Shawn Levy protects The Pink Panther’s family jewels.