Pink Panther (2006)

OK, viewers, I'm returning to 2006.

Why?  Believe it or not, I never saw Steve Martin's version of The Pink Panther.  I must explain why:  I always loved the Peter Sellers films that came out in the 60s, and I did not want to spoil my fun with a potentially lousy updated version.

Caveat:  Truth to tell, comedy is one of my least favorite genres.  Whenever others tell me to run out and see the "funniest film ever," and I do, I usually sit there and wonder where the humor is.  Maybe it's me?  Or them?  Haha.  Hard to say.

Yet the old Pink Panthers had a certain lightness and fun about them that really got me.  The portrait of the bungling Inspector Clouseau, the Brit with the over-the-top French accent, the fool who always won out in the end, made me laugh until tears came to my eyes.  Sure, the humor was simple, often no more than old-time slapstick.  Yet, the whole breeziness of the films, each of them, made me howl.

Just last week, laid up with a bit of flu, I found a replay of the Steve Martin version.  I thought, okay, I'll give it a try.  I needed cheering up!  Being quite the Peter Sellers enthusiast, I thought, no way, Steve Martin, will you come close to the humor of the original.  How wrong I was!

The 2006 version actually improved, in some ways, over the original.

If any of you recall the character Kato in the Sellers' version, the humor was distasteful.  When Sellers made racist comments about his Asian houseboy, the lines were inappropriate, unnecessary, and demeaning. Those were not funny moments.  In the current story, the character of Kato does not exist.  Now that is what I call a fine upgrade!

Also, Clouseau's boss in the originals, played by Herbert Lom, was way too exaggerated at times.  While he added to the humor, he was often just too farcical to maintain any believability.

Steve Martin is every bit the bungler, falling all over himself and creating disaster wherever he goes, and he does so with the same charming smile and disarming innocence of the original character.  I found his portrayal of the inspector at times even funnier than the original.

The story too was improved.  I won't give away details, since I never want to be a spoiler, but somehow the plot hangs together much better in the 2006 version.  Of course, in all the Pink Panther films, we need lots of suspension of disbelief.  Yet the updated story does seem sort of plausible, in an other-world sort of way.

A word about the characters:  Steve Martin is great.  Always.  Such a talent.  Jean Reno is just okay, maybe somewhat miscast.  Beyonce is not bad, considering she's a singer and not an actress.  But the real surprise is the role of Nicole, Inspector Clouseau's assistant.  Played by Emily Mortimer, the character dazzles!  Mortimer actually steals the show more than once.

My grade:  A+!!!

Prepare to laugh, my friends.  Oh wait.  I'd better not say that!  Humor is so individual that you might find the film utterly un-funny!

So I say: Watch it and try to enjoy!