The Pink Panther (2006)

Bumbling Inspector Clouseau must solve the murder of a famous soccer coach and find out who stole the infamous Pink Panther diamond.

Director:

Shawn Levy

Writers:

Len Blum (screenplay), Steve Martin (screenplay)

Stars:

Steve Martin, Kevin Kline, Jean Reno

1 win & 8 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Steve Martin	...	Clouseau
Kevin Kline	...	Dreyfus
Jean Reno	...	Ponton
Emily Mortimer	...	Nicole
Henry Czerny	...	Yuri
Kristin Chenoweth	...	Cherie
Roger Rees	...	Raymond Larocque
Beyoncé	...	Xania (as Beyoncé Knowles)
Philip Goodwin	...	Deputy Chief Renard
Henri Garcin	...	President
William Abadie	...	Bizu
Daniel Sauli	...	Music Producer
Jean Dell	...	Justice Minister Clochard
Anna Katarina	...	Agent Corbeille
Nick Toren	...	Agent Savard

Storyline

Before thousands of enthusiastic spectators at the World Cup semi-finals between France and China, an elusive professional assassin murders the famous French coach, and manages, somehow, to steal from his hand his prized possession--the priceless Pink Panther diamond ring. Now, of all the Parisian Police Force's detectives, the deceitful Chief Inspector, Dreyfus, decides to appoint the maladroit investigator, Jacques Clouseau, to this difficult and mysterious case, knowing that the eccentric gendarme is way out of his depth. Does Dreyfus have a hidden agenda? Can France's clueless and most bumbling officer of the law piece together the scarce leads to pull off a surprising success?

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Plot Keywords:

soccer | pink panther | diamond | france | investigation | 

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Taglines:

The Pink Panther diamond is missing.... And the world's greatest detective is solving the case one mistake at a time.

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Genres:

Adventure | Comedy | Crime | Family | Mystery

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated PG for occasional crude and suggestive humor and language

Did You Know?

Trivia

Chris Tucker and Robin Williams were early contenders for the role of Inspector Clouseau. Kevin Spacey, Mike Myers and Kevin Kline were considered for the role (Kline got the role of Dreyfus instead).

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Goofs

The French national police are under the control of the ministry of interior, not the ministry of justice.

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Quotes

[first lines]
Chief Inspector Dreyfus: Ah, Clouseau. Yes, well, the first time I ever heard that name, uh, Clouseau was just a little, um... nobody, a police officer in some little village far outside of Paris.
Chief Inspector Dreyfus: He was the village idiot as far as I could tell.
[Dreyfus chuckles]

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Crazy Credits

The opening credits reflect the functions of the credited persons, for instance, Pink Panther as the orchestra director (at the music credits), standing before a photo camera (director of photography), etc.

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Alternate Versions

An alternate opening sequence, made in CGI.

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Connections

Featured in Hewy's Animated Movie Reviews: The Top 9 Pink Panther Intros (2015)

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Soundtracks

The Pink Panther Theme (Malibu Remix)
Written and Performed by Henry Mancini
Mixed by Chris Manning
Courtesy of Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Music Inc.
Under license from Columbia Pictures Industries, Inc.

User Reviews

Shockingly funny and delightfully entertaining

If you liked the original "Pink Panther" you will enjoy this new rendition. Being a lover of the original, it was with great trepidation that I went to see this particular version of the bunglingly, incompetent, but nonetheless lovable, Inspector Clouseau. I have always loved to see Steve Martin in films of all types, but never in my wildest dreams did I anticipate him being able pull off even a rudimentary Peter Sellers imitation. Well, Martin did a fantastic job and understood his limitations. The 21st-century Inspector Clouseau is fresh and imaginative. Sexual innuendos were prevalent throughout the film, but done in such a fashion that children under the age of 12 really did not know what was so funny to all of the adults, other than the slapstick humor. There was one particular scene which all of the adults were laughing at hilariously and my niece, who will be 12 in a couple of months, leaned over and asked me what was so funny about the blue pill. I told her quickly that I would explain later, but I didn't tell her how much later. Is the film as great as the original? No! It is, however, not the same script and therefore should not be compared entirely with the original. The film is delightfully entertaining and given the current length of films, mercifully only an hour and a half long. My biggest complaints were that the new Inspector Clouseau was not incompetent enough and actually was able to really figure out some things, instead of simply bumbling into everything accidentally. I additionally did not think that Kevin Kline, whom I normally enjoy in all films, proved to be convincing as Chief Inspector Dreyfus. It is too bad they couldn't use the aging, but indefatigable Herbert Lom for the role. On the plus side I found Clouseau's new sidekick, Jean Reno, to be a delightful improvement. I, a self-professed lover of slapstick humor, gave this film 7.5 of 10 and found it worthy of a ticket.

Details

Official Sites:

Sony Pictures [United States]

Country:

USA Czech Republic

Language:

English

Release Date:

10 February 2006 (USA)

Also Known As:

The Mask of the Pink Panther

Filming Locations:

New York City, New York, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$80,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend USA:

$20,220,412, 12 February 2006

Gross USA:

$82,226,474

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$164,115,897

Company Credits

Production Co:

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

Technical Specs

Runtime:

93 min

Sound Mix:

DTS Dolby Digital SDDS

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1