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The Pink Panther (2006)
It required major cajones of Steve Martin to attempt to step into the late Peter Sellers' shoes, but his 2006 remake of The Pink Panther is not the worst remake ever, providing some giggles, though it's definitely a case of parts being better than the whole. It definitely captures the spirit of the original franchise, but no matter how you want to place the blame somewhere else, Steve Martin is not Peter Sellers.
Martin is also one third of the screenwriting team credited with this story, which is not a scene for scene remake of the 1964 Blake Edwards classic (though Edwards does receive onscreen credit). In this film, Martin's Clouseau is assigned by Dreyfuss (Oscar winner Kevin Kline) to learn who murdered a world champion soccer player and stole the infamous Pink Panther diamond. Dreyfuss wants to send Clouseau in for him to do the work so that he can swoop in and take credit once the footwork is done. He sends a fellow officer (Jean Reno) to act as a double agent, aiding Clouseau in his work while reporting everything he does to Dreyfuss, There's also a beautiful nightclub singer (Beyonce Knowles) who was involved with the soccer player at the time of his murder.
Martin is to be applauded for the respect and research that went into his attempt to revive this franchise and it's hard to put a precise finger on what went wrong here, other than the fact that Steve Martin is not Peter Sellers. Apparently, Clouseau is one of those movie characters , like The King in The King & I, Fanny Brice in Funny Girl, Dorothy in The Wizard of Oz, and Scarlett O'Hara in Gone With the Wind, where the actor who originated the role is the gold standard for the role and anyone attempting the role will draw immediate comparison and never live up to the task. Kline was an acceptab;e substitute for Herbert Lom though.
Martin's got a strong cast behind him though and despite the presence of Knowles and Emily Mortimer as a bespectacled secretary, the best relationship Martin's Clouseau has in the film is with Jean Reno's character. The evolution of Reno's character as he is originally sent on assignment to discredit Clouseau, but eventually learns to respect the man, is a joy to watch and almost makes everything else that's wrong with the movie not so bad. Reno delivers one of the funniest tour-de-force performances II have ever scene with very limited dialogue, this is a comedy performance to be studied.
Beyonce's third feature film appearance, once again proves that there are few women out there who look more breathtaking stretched across a 40 foot screen, but the woman can't act. I don't place all the blame on her though...the character seems to have been shoe-horned into the story because she was the hottest musician on the planet and they wanted her in the movie. She had no chemistry with Martin or anyone else in the movie and her character seems to have wondered in from another movie. Director Shawn Levy does show skill with physical comedy, though he would fare a little better with Date Night. It's better than a hot poker in the eye, but not much. Martin actually made a sequel, though I can't imagine what he was thinking.
It required major cajones of Steve Martin to attempt to step into the late Peter Sellers' shoes, but his 2006 remake of The Pink Panther is not the worst remake ever, providing some giggles, though it's definitely a case of parts being better than the whole. It definitely captures the spirit of the original franchise, but no matter how you want to place the blame somewhere else, Steve Martin is not Peter Sellers.
Martin is also one third of the screenwriting team credited with this story, which is not a scene for scene remake of the 1964 Blake Edwards classic (though Edwards does receive onscreen credit). In this film, Martin's Clouseau is assigned by Dreyfuss (Oscar winner Kevin Kline) to learn who murdered a world champion soccer player and stole the infamous Pink Panther diamond. Dreyfuss wants to send Clouseau in for him to do the work so that he can swoop in and take credit once the footwork is done. He sends a fellow officer (Jean Reno) to act as a double agent, aiding Clouseau in his work while reporting everything he does to Dreyfuss, There's also a beautiful nightclub singer (Beyonce Knowles) who was involved with the soccer player at the time of his murder.
Martin is to be applauded for the respect and research that went into his attempt to revive this franchise and it's hard to put a precise finger on what went wrong here, other than the fact that Steve Martin is not Peter Sellers. Apparently, Clouseau is one of those movie characters , like The King in The King & I, Fanny Brice in Funny Girl, Dorothy in The Wizard of Oz, and Scarlett O'Hara in Gone With the Wind, where the actor who originated the role is the gold standard for the role and anyone attempting the role will draw immediate comparison and never live up to the task. Kline was an acceptab;e substitute for Herbert Lom though.
Martin's got a strong cast behind him though and despite the presence of Knowles and Emily Mortimer as a bespectacled secretary, the best relationship Martin's Clouseau has in the film is with Jean Reno's character. The evolution of Reno's character as he is originally sent on assignment to discredit Clouseau, but eventually learns to respect the man, is a joy to watch and almost makes everything else that's wrong with the movie not so bad. Reno delivers one of the funniest tour-de-force performances II have ever scene with very limited dialogue, this is a comedy performance to be studied.
Beyonce's third feature film appearance, once again proves that there are few women out there who look more breathtaking stretched across a 40 foot screen, but the woman can't act. I don't place all the blame on her though...the character seems to have been shoe-horned into the story because she was the hottest musician on the planet and they wanted her in the movie. She had no chemistry with Martin or anyone else in the movie and her character seems to have wondered in from another movie. Director Shawn Levy does show skill with physical comedy, though he would fare a little better with Date Night. It's better than a hot poker in the eye, but not much. Martin actually made a sequel, though I can't imagine what he was thinking.