Laugh riot. Review on The Pink Panther Movie

The coach of the French football team has been murdered in front of a jam packed stadium and the pink panther diamond has also been stolen from him. The head of the French intelligence services Dreyfus (Kevin Kline) deputes Clouseau on this inexplicable case in order to upstage the latter and get the publicity for himself. Inspector Clouseau makes a vow to capture the killer with “clevyer deducshions and scienteefic technolegy like email”. Along with his assistant, Ponton (Jean Reno) he cross examines and confounds every possible person under the sun causing mayhem and chaos in the wake. He also has to contend with the dead coach’s fiancée’ Xania (Beyonce Knowles), a pop singer. His investigation leads him to USA where he is framed with false charges and disgraced. Does he manage to win back his pride and avenge his plight against Dreyfus? Who is the killer and the thief?

The plot is fairly simple and is full of gags written by the director and Steve Martin himself. There are several scenes which evoke humour throughout the movie but the most memorable ones are:

Clouseau’s good cop-bad cop act

The English language training scene

The camouflage sequence

In many cases the comedy is slapstick yet it is a welcome relief from the ‘scary movie- date movie’ offerings. Clouseau is the typical fall guy who never learns from his mistakes. It is the timing which is most important in such a comedy and it is provided in ample quantity by Steve Martin. Right from the queer accent to the stiff upper lip, he remains true to the character and yet lends individuality to his performance. One would not dare to think of anyone other than Peter Sellers for this role had it not been for Steve Martin’s tongue in cheek humour. The veteran Kevin Kline reviles as the shrewd and calculating detective. Jean Reno, the sidekick who observes for most of the movie does well. Beyonce is her usual ‘bootylicious’ self.

This is an attempt to relive the legendary Pink Panther for the new generation. It cannot be compared to the original series as the brand of humour is more relevant to today’s audiences. Even then this is a straight faced comedy which does not require you to completely leave your brains at home. If you are looking for a fun evening, try this and find yourself going pink with laughter.