The Pink Panther 2 (2009)

Insp. Jacques Clouseau teams up with a squad of International detectives who are just as bumbling as he is. Their mission: Stop a globe-trotting thief who specializes in stealing historical artifacts.

Director:

Harald Zwart

Writers:

Scott Neustadter (screenplay), Michael H. Weber (screenplay),

Stars:

Steve Martin, Jean Reno, Emily Mortimer

3 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Steve Martin	...	Clouseau
Jean Reno	...	Ponton
Emily Mortimer	...	Nicole
Andy Garcia	...	Vicenzo
Alfred Molina	...	Pepperidge
Yuki Matsuzaki	...	Kenji
Aishwarya Rai Bachchan	...	Sonia
John Cleese	...	Dreyfus
Lily Tomlin	...	Mrs. Berenger
Jeremy Irons	...	Avellaneda
Johnny Hallyday	...	Milliken
Geoffrey Palmer	...	Joubert
Philip Goodwin	...	Renard
Armel Bellec	...	Louis
Jack Metzger	...	Antoine

Storyline

After having been rewarded for solving the mystery of the Pink Panther Diamond, inspector Jacques Clouseau has been assigned to minor tasks by his boss inspector Dreyfus so as not to have him in his way anymore. Unfortunately, the famous diamond has once again been stolen as have many other artifacts in a series of burglaries around the world. His past success will enable inspector Clouseau to be part of the dream team comprised of the greatest detectives of the affected countries, where he will be able to display his numerous talents across the world.

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Plot Keywords:

inspector | clouseau | team | italy | detective | 

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Taglines:

Steve Martin revient dans le rôle de l'Inspecteur Clouseau (Steve Martin is back as Inspector Clouseau)

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Genres:

Adventure | Comedy | Crime | Mystery

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated PG for some suggestive humor, brief mild language and action

Details

Official Sites:

Official site [Australia] Official site [Japan]

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

6 February 2009 (USA)

Also Known As:

La pantera rosa 2

Filming Locations:

Bedford, Massachusetts, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$70,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend:

£821,726 (UK) (13 February 2009)

Gross:

$35,922,978 (USA) (20 March 2009)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM), Columbia Pictures, Robert Simonds Productions

Technical Specs

Runtime:

92 min

Sound Mix:

DTS SDDS Dolby Digital

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Apart from Jean Reno, two other famous French people can be seen in the film. Indeed, actress Judith Godrèche has a small cameo and Milliken is played by Johnny Hallyday, an extremely popular pop/rock singer and sometime actor.

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Goofs

In The Pink Panther, the diamond was set in a ring. In this film, it is just the gem.

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Quotes

Italian Reporter: [after the Pope's ring has been stolen] Mr. Pepperidge, was the Dream Team asleep when the theft occurred?
Pepperidge: No comment.
Italian Reporter: Do you think they will recover the ring?
Pepperidge: If I give a comment, when I said 'no comment.' I would look like a complete ass, wouldn't I?

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Crazy Credits

The opening titles of the film double as an animated short featuring the famous animated counterparts of Inspector Clouseau and the Pink Panther. Similarly the film ends with the animated Pink Panther walking across the screen before the end titles start. Both of these appearances are consistent with the previous films in the franchise.

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Connections

Referenced in Saturday Night Live: Steve Martin/Jason Mraz (2009)

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Soundtracks

Sonia's Love
Written by George Kieffer (as George David Kieffer)

User Reviews

Harmless Fun

I'm not ready to get out the torches and pitchforks and lead a lynch mob after Mr Martin -- not yet anyway! Having read the early reviews here, I went to the cheapo theater with low expectations, and emerged pleasantly surprised. There were some genuine laughs from time-to-time, plus a great cast (shoulda got more out them). My daughter and grandchildren were delighted.

The overall plot is reasonably clever -- so, that leaves the gags. Some work - some don't work that well, as evidenced by the fact that many IMDb'ers want to talk about why some of the gags don't 'feel right', or seem to 'take too long'. (No really successful comedians ever had people talk about how their gags don't seem to be working -- people just talk about how much they laughed. When people start analyzing why your comedy isn't funny, it ain't workin'). But we had a few chuckles in this one, if not a bunch of sustained belly laughs.

Everyone says we should stop comparing Steve Martin to Peter Sellers, but, if you watched the original films, how can you stop comparing? Sellers created this character, just as Atkinson created Mr. Bean and Cleese created Basil Fawlty. And Steve Martin tries to do Sellers anyway (his 'little yellow friend' line?). He can't quite pull it off, and he hasn't really found a shtick that works. For one thing, his eyes are always popping, like he's trying to pass gas. Sellers' eyes were quiet. His Clouseau was genuinely 'clueless'. And, I've mentioned elsewhere at IMDb that Sellers was a major Radio comedy star before doing films - that puts him in a league with Abbott & Costello, Burns & Allen, Bob Hope and Jack Benny. These guys built amazing gags that kept both live and radio audiences in stitches, using well-constructed devices such as bizarre characterizations, rapid exchanges, and nifty voices. Mr. Martin's roots in comedy are from a different - and later - era.

Overall, though, if you need an amusing and harmless diversion, go see this at the reduced-price theater. For $4, I'm in - $20 for a date and me, plus popcorn? where are those torches and pitchforks?

6/10 canuckteach