Leading Ladies: February 2006

The Pink Panther

Stars: Steve Martin, Kevin Kline, Jean Reno, Emily Mortimer, Beyoncé Knowles
Director: Shawn Levy
Rating: PG

In brief, the Leading Ladies hate this remake of the Peter Sellers Inspector Clouseau comedy but love Steve Martin's performance in it.

According to Entertainment Weekly's Lisa Schwarzbaum, "Martin's gift for physical and vocal comedy is as deft as ever ‑- he chews over the pronunciation of 'hamburger' the way Sellers masticated his monkey. But the plot, involving a murder, a missing diamond and a vain police chief (Kline), makes a short story long."

The Washington Post's Ann Hornaday comments, "Most of the humor in The Pink Panther derives from Martin's silly French accent, especially when he tries to pronounce the word 'hamburger.' But zat joke, she ees not funny. And [the film] ees, how you say, ze real dog."

The Los Angeles Times's Carina Chocano says, "The best thing about the replica is how wholeheartedly Martin throws himself into the physical comedy, which is uniformly hilarious," but the Philadelphia Inquirer's Carrie Rickey concludes, "Alas, this joyless affair doesn't have a clou."

Female consensus: Rent the original now; wait for this one on DVD

next : Curious George