Pink Panther

Theatrical Release Date: 2006 02 10 (USA)

UPC: 043396138681

Studio: Sony Pictures

MPAA Rating: PG   Contains:[Adult Language, Adult Humor, Scatological Humor]

Summary: The world's most inept detective returns to the screen in this modern slapstick comedy. France's come-from-behind victory in the World Cup soccer championships turns tragic when the team's coach, Yves Gulant (Jason Statham), is murdered during a post-game celebration. Gulant's girlfriend, pop star Xania (Beyonc? Knowles), was standing by his side as he was felled by a poisoned dart, and in the chaos that followed a diamond ring he gave her was stolen, which held one of the world's largest and most valuable jewels, known as "the Pink Panther." The media and the public demand that the killer be found out and brought to justice, and Chief Inspector Dreyfus (Kevin Kline) of the Paris Police pledges to put his best man on the case. However, somehow the astoundingly clumsy but consistently lucky Inspector Jacques Clouseau (Steve Martin) gets the assignment instead, and with his assistant, Gendarme Gilbert Ponton (Jean Reno), in tow, Clouseau follows a dizzying trail of clues from Paris to New York City as he attempts to recover the rare diamond and find the villains who killed Gulant. An updated variant on the Inspector Clouseau comedies that helped make Peter Sellers a major star in the United States, The Pink Panther also stars Emily Mortimer, Kristin Chenoweth, Roger Rees, and William Abadie; leading man Steve Martin also wrote the film's screenplay. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi

Category: Comedy

Features: Full-length movie
Widescreen presentation
DVD picture quality

Pink Panther

Format: Universal Media Disc

Release Date: 06/13/2006

Aspect Ratio: 1.85:1 Theatre Wide-Screen

Runtime: 93 Minutes

Sides: 1

Number of Discs: 1

Language(s) English,French

Subtitles: English,French

Region: USA & territories, Canada

Jeremy Wheeler

Steve Martin adapts one of comedy's most beloved characters of the big screen, Inspector Clouseau, with 2006's The Pink Panther, a mildly amusing revamp whose genuinely funny moments are few and far between the madcap setups that populate most of the film. It's not as if the comedian doesn't try; his Clouseau is filled with hilarious subtlety when the film isn't forcing him into a predictably unfunny scenario -- which it often does. That said, for all of the uninspired laughs that fall flat, there are moments of sheer brilliance that shine through, such as the part with the dialect coach where Martin takes a classic comic premise and turns it into the drop-dead-funny highlight of the film. The scene hearkens back to the old Peter Sellers days when the chuckles were earned by milking the comedy for all it's worth and then pushing it even further after the fact. And while this Clouseau is surrounded by accomplished thesps, none of them provide the right foil to his character for added comedic value. Kevin Kline would have made a fine Clouseau in his own right, but his Dreyfus never gets to the crazy, agitated state that exemplified Herbert Lom's brilliant performances. With this film, Martin proves that he's up to the challenge of the role and possibly with better scripts, actually has the chance to create a lasting franchise that is both family-friendly and classic in its approach to fine slapstick humor -- until then, this film remains a flawed, yet commercially successful kick-start to the reinterpreted series. ~ Jeremy Wheeler, Rovi

Cast and Crew: Delphine Chanéac  Actor 
Shawn Levy  Director 
Len Blum  Screenwriter 
Steve Martin  Screenwriter 
Ivan Reitman  Producer 
Robert Simonds  Producer 
Ira Shuman  Executive Producer 
Tracey Trench  Executive Producer 
Christophe Beck  Composer (Music Score) 
Tom Pollock  Producer 
Steve Martin  Actor 
Kevin Kline  Actor 
Jean Reno  Actor 
Emily Mortimer  Actor 
Henry Czerny  Actor 
Kristin Chenoweth  Actor 
Roger Rees  Actor 
Beyoncé Knowles  Actor 

Country: USA