The Pink Panther 2006 Film Review

For some odd reason Hollywood has a very long history of tuning British comedies into bad American films and while it is something that is mostly kept to TV there are times where it does creep into there films as well. Such is the case with the film that i'm going to be talking to you all bout today as this is film that whilst it did have all of the potential to be a great comedy it just fell flat on it's face and yet it still somehow got a sequel and so then join me as I review the film that has Jason Statham in it with the film in question being called simply just "The Pink Panther" enjoy.

The plot of this film is when the famous manger of the French national football team is killed and his beloved Pink Panther diamond is stolen it's up to the worlds worst detective Inspector Jacques Clouseau to solve the crime before its far to late. Now then interms of what I personally thought / felt about the actual plot that's actually featured / presented to us in this very film well then in all honesty I in all honesty personally thought / felt that the actual plot that's actually featured / presented to us in this very film was in all honesty not that bad. The films plot is one that does somewhat mirror the plot of the original film by having a bumbling detective take on a case that involves this famous diamond being stolen however tho in the original film the plot worked because of how it simple that it was and yet due to the fact that they've now added in the fact that someone got killed it doesn't quite work as well as it should have done. It's not a bad plot persay as does still work as the plot for a feature film out the whole idea behind these films was to have this idiot being able to solve these cases due to share luck and yet by adding in the fact that it's murder and not just a straight forward robbery like it was in the original film it makes the plot become so cartoonish that you just don't end up buying into it when this plot should have been really easy to buy into due to the fact that it is pretty much just the plot of the original or at the very least the bare bones version of it, however to give this films plot some credit the idea of them going global with the case and following this one person of interest around the world is a good idea and the film does get some milage out of it however tho this does make the film feel more like a cartoon where as going the more simple route with it's plot would have worked all the more better because of it with the plot of this film also being really rather entertaining and as well as being really rather engaging as well in my freaking opinions anyways / at least.

Starring in this film is this films co-writer Steve Martin as Inspector Jacques Clouseau and Kevin Kline as Chief Inspector Charles Dreyfus. Also starring in this film is Jean Reno as Gendarme Gilbert Ponton , Emily Mortimer as Nicole Durant , Henry Czerny as Yuri , Kristin Chenoweth as Cherie , Roger Rees as Raymond Laroque , Beyoncé Knowles as Xania , William Abadie as Bizu , Scott Adkins as Jacquard , Philip Goodwin as Deputy Chief Renard , Henri Garcin as The President , Jean Dell as Justice Minister Clochard , Anna Katarina as Agent Corbeille and Jason Statham as Yves Gluant.

Now then interms of what I personally thought / felt about the actual acting that's actually featured / presented to us in this very film well then in all honesty I in all honesty personally thought / felt that the actual acting that's actually featured / presented to us in this very film was in all honesty not that bad. he fact that this films acting is as good as it is is still something that is quite shocking as by all rights this films acting should have been really bad and yet for one reason or another this films acting ended up being slightly more better then what it really had any right to be with the only side being the fact that Steve Martin as good as he is in this film just isn't that believable as Clouseau as this character is one that does require the actor playing him to be more sarcastic with his humor a little bit less aloof and that's not something that Steve brings to the role as instead he plays up the physical comedy aspect pf the character and that's it. However tho the best actor in this film is also Steve Martin due to the fact that he doesn't try to outright copy what the great Peter Sellers did with the character and instead does try to make him his own and while alot of the choices that he makes do go against what this kind of character should be for this film those same choices do oddly enough work for the film and with him being the films co-writer he would have a hand in shaping his take on the character really from the ground up and it is something that does shine through in his final performance. With the acting that's in this film not really being helped by the fact that this films script is just so bad as it gives none of tis films actors a lot to work with interms of what it is that there actual characters personalities are even meant to be in the first place which is something that really does harm the overall quality of the acting that's in this very film.  

Character wise the film doesn't end up all the more better due to the fact that there's not really all that much to this films characters in the first place. As this films characters are just bland characters with all of them having nothing interesting about them to make them standout and while this is something that is understandable as this film was made very much with little kids in mind so was the original film and yet in that film they did manage to give us good characters that we not only liked but also wanted to see more off where as here in this film quite literally the only likable characters are Nicole and Clouseau and that's it as all of the other characters are all either hiding a secret from Clouseau or hiding something from the films mystery. Even hen Clouseau is only likeable due to the fact that he's the franchises main human character as in this film they really don't give us a reason to like him as a character due to the fact that he does go around causing chaos where ever he goes which granted is in his character to do as he isn't the smartest bulb out there but there still needs to be reason to really like him as a character like maybe even tho he is a dumb person he is doing what he believes to be right due to the fact that all he's ever wanted to be was a police officer, while this won't in anyway make up for the fact that he does go around causing all of this chaos and destruction it will go along way into making him feel like a likable character and when the film does hit that point where we are meant to be feeling sorry for him it will be all the more effective due to the fact that we audience would have gotten the chance to know him as a character but for whatever reason the makers of this film instead chose to give us characters that are at best forgettable all for no reason whatsoever when it would have helped the film out if the character were more memorable and likable.

Whilst it is easy to say that this film is a straight up remake of the 1963 original film due to the fact that both films do have very similar plot lines in them but due to the fact that alot of the films do have The Pink Panther diamond being stolen this is something that could also be said for alot of the films in this series. With this film doing a very good job or updating the original films plot in a way that would make sense for a more modern audience as a more modern audience wouldn't know what a gentlemen thief is but what they will know is that someone has stolen the diamond and in this regard the film does work as it's not a straight up remake of the original film. Which is something that it very easily could have been rather it is a film that does do it's own unique thing with it just following the broad stroked of the original film and that is exactly what this film needed to be as if they just straight up copied what they did in the original film then the film would have gotten compared to that original film and while Steve Martin was always going to be getting compared to Peter Sellers as he really did help to make the role of Clouseau as well known as he is in the first place by taking this approach to the film where it's not quite a remake but is still very much a remake of the original film it does allow for Steven martin to put his own stamp on the character and while that might hurt the film it does also make alot of sense as Steve's version of the character is alot more cartoonish with him falling for the most obvious of routines whereas with Peter Sellers it would more often then not be his own ego that would bring down his version of the character, the other thing that might hurt this film is the fact that it does have alot of well known faces in it where as in the original film alot of the actors weren't that well known which was something that did make it easier to by into the film and it's comedy it's a small thing but it is something that does make a big difference as it allows you to see the character more and not the actor.

This film does of course have a mystery angel to it with the mystery being one that was handled about as well as could as could be expected for this film. As the films mystery is quite a good one due to the fact that you genuinely have no idea of who it is that killed this person and took there diamond ring with the film going into great detail of showing Clouseau interviewing alot of the suspects in his inept way which was something that was highly entertaining as it's where the film did truly feel the most like a Pink Panther film and heck one could make the argument that there was more thought and effort put into this films mystery aspect then anything else in the film. However tho even with this being said the film does still fumble it's mystery tho as it really doesn't give us a lot of clues as to who the killer might be due to the fact that it was more focused on the antics of Clouseau then it is in giving us clues to work out who the killer is which is fair enough as these films are meant to comedies afterall and Clouseau is a funny character but at the same time tho there needs to be a fair balance between the mystery and the comedy as if the film did focus more on the mystery and gave us clues as to who the killer is then it wouldn't seem out of the blue when the reveal that it was Yuri who did it because of the fact that he hated Gluant with the only good thing about this being the fact that it did keep the fact that the diamond wasn't technically stolen as Gluant's girlfriend Xania took it and hit before someone else could with her only keeping it hidden due to the fact that she was afraid of what people would say about her if she turned up with the diamond after it was reported stolen and it's previous owner was killed which is a bit of leap in terms of logic but for the world that this film does take place in it is something that does oddly make sense.

Something that should have been the thing that made this film was the focus on the character dynamics and there relationships with each other. As this is something that does come up alot in the film with characters of Clouseau and Ponton and yet for whatever reason even when Clouseau finds out that Ponton has been lying for him and has been working with Dreyfus to report on all of his actions Clouseau isn't that hut by this and forgives Ponton right away with Ponton not even having to say he's sorry or say that even tho when he first was hired by Dreyfus it was to report on Clouseau's actions but over time he and come to respect him as a man and a police officer something which would made there bond be al the more stronger. This is something that would have made it a bit more understandable as to why Clouseau forgave him as he is the type of character that would always look for the best in every one even if they can't quite see it in themselves and therefore he would forgive someone who might as well as be his best friend for misjudging him but due to the fact that Ponton doesn't take the time to even address does make it feel like the makers of this film just forgot about that part of the film and while the film isn't hurt by this in anyway it is something that does somewhat linger over the film as everything that we've seen with the characters near the third act does show us that the two of them have become friends and yet the film doesn't take the time to focus on there friendship when you could argue that that is something that does help to make the second act low point hit all the more harder for Clouseau as it wouldn't just be a colleague that's hurt him it would be his best friend and that is something that hurt a character like Clouseau all the more harder.

Now then this film has / had an exact grand total running time of exactly one hour and thirty two minuets and forty five seconds. This is pretty much the exact grand total running time that you'd expect a film like this one to have and to be fair pretty much all of the other Pink Panther films did have very similar running times to them as well therefor it does make sense this film would follow suit in this regard and heck this film does even have the right amount of plot there to cover that amount of running time in the first place but in saying this tho the film really does use it's running time all that wisely due to the fact that the film really doesn't take the time to fully develop its plot. Which granted is something that it would have been very hard to do with this running time as it would have to tell a good story , have a good mystery and tell good jokes and it wouldn't be able to do all of that in a small amount of running time with this being something that was also kind of an issue for the other Pink Panther films as well but this film does take a step to far due to the fact that this film would rather focus on quite literally anything else then it's main plot as the film does seem to be more focused on the antics of Clouseau rather then telling us a well thought out and developed plot. This is also something that does kind of effect the films character development as well as the film doesn't really take the time to give quite literally any of its characters any kind of character development with them all ending the film in the exact same place that they started the film with us even knowing as much abut them coming out of the film as we did going into the film and while it does make sense that the film would focus Clouseau alot more the film also should have sent some time in giving its characters some character development even if it's just something small it still would have been alot more better then what they ended up getting but I really will admit that this film really does gave some really good pacing to it tho.

So now then as this is a comedy that really does mean that I have to actually talk about the actual comedy that's actually featured / presented to us in this very film well then in all honesty I in all honesty personally thought / felt that the actual comedy that's actually featured / presented to us in this very film was in all honesty OK at best. This was something that was quite frankly to be expected as while alot of this films actors are indeed some really funny actors and have been funny in other films but the style of comedy that this film does try to go for that being slapstick physical just isn't as funny in this film and it's something that does work more against it's star then it does with him as when we see Steven Martin in a comedy you want his character to have more of a sarcastic sense of humor to him as that what he does best and it's the very thing that does make him wrong for the role of Clouseau maybe if Clouseau was played by Will Ferrell then maybe the films comedies would have been more funnier as slapstick is more of his style of comedy then it is Steve Martin's. The best joke in the whole entire film tho has to be when Clouseau is trying to earning English with him just constantly messing up the phase thanks to his accent yet the thing that makes this seemingly one off joke being the fact that they bring it back in away that not only makes sense for the film but is also in its own way really funny with that joke even being when Steven Martin is allowed to be as funny as he can be in a kids film as you do get the frustrations coming from the hapless Clouseau and the frustrated translator with the rest of the films jokes being just as good as well in my freaking opinions anyways / at least.

Overall it really is hard to believe that this film is now officially twenty years old and its even hard to believe that it spawned a sequel as while this film isn't bad persay but it's also not particularly good either as there is alot of room for improvement but this really is still a fairly somewhat enjoyable film in its own right as well in my freaking opinions anyways / at east. Now then i've talked about all of the good and as well as all of the bad thigs that are in this very film in this very review and as such that rally does mean that this very film really does earn itself a grand old score of exactly a 5 out of 10 from me.

Now then as for where I personally got all of the images that I personally used in this very review well then boys ad girls and as well as ladies and gentlemen I personally got all of the images that I personally used in this very review from IMP Awards . Com and Google Images. With my personally preferred website to use to get images really from this very film being the really great Google Images this is really because of the fact that really all of the images that I really indeed got and really used from Google Images are all really high quality really with all of the images that really are all and of course really currently up and on the really great and the really solid Google Images really are all being really fairly high in quality and as well as them all really being fairly high in definition.