|
Directed by: Shawn Levy Starring: Steve Martin, Beyonce Knowles, Eugene Levy, Kevin Kline When I was younger I had a collection of VHS tapes that I played with frightening regularity. Sometimes the tapes wore out from repeated viewing. As I grew older and came across familiar childhood favorites, a certain degree of disappointment washed over me as I realized the movies I held so dear to my heart were just plain awful. Among these were “Ace Ventura: Pet Detective,” “Home Alone” and “Sgt. Bilko.” Of course, I can still appreciate the purpose they served when I was a child — simple slapstick humor that is easy to identify. “The Pink Panther” is pretty much the text book definition of slapstick, and little restraint is given by Steve Martin and crew to make it anything but. Jacques Clouseau [Steve Martin] — a low-level detective from a small village in France — has been enlisted by Chief Inspector Dreyfus [Kevin Kline] to take on a high profile theft of the infamous pink panther diamond. The jewel was stolen from the head coach of a national soccer team who was killed during a post-game celebration. Dreyfus does not hire Clouseau because of his street smarts or because of an accomplished resume. Rather, he wants Clouseau to function as a red herring while he investigates the actual crime and takes all the glory for himself. Clouseau has a genuine drive to solve the crime, but he is ignorant of the fact that Dreyfus is using him as a pawn. Nevertheless, he pursues the assailant and the pink panther diamond with an intense vigor that yields disastrous results. Nearly the entire script is structured on giving Martin scenes for which he bumbles around wreaking havoc because of his clumsy and inept nature. A running gag has Clouseau trying to “secure” rooms by tearing down drapery that may be concealing spies or other undesirables. In another scene, he gets his hand stuck in a vase. Another scene has him flooding a bathroom, trying to retrieve a Viagra pill from the sink’s drain. Yet another has him knock a huge globe off its axis that proceeds to roll out of the building and into a wave of Tour de France cyclists. This is basically the recipe for the film, and it is repeated over and over again with equally unimpressive results. Beyonce Knowles and Eugene Levy are brought in as supporting roles in hopes of distracting viewers from the embarrassing lack of depth the plot possesses — but little can be done to save the film from digging a comedy hole that eventually buries itself. The film advertises itself as a prequel to the popular Peter Sellers original, but the whole film is basically an excuse to use the instantly identifiable theme music and have Martin speak in a caricatured French accent. Martin is a gifted physical comedian, but his goofy antics never take off and wear thin in the first 30 minutes. Luckily, the film has a brief 90-minute running time, which kept it regressing from just plain bad to excruciating. Leaving the theater crossed my mind more than once. There were a number of children in the audience that laughed continually throughout the feature, and it reminded me of brighter days as a child when I would cry from laughing so hard every time a guy got it in the face in some sort of zany way. Now I cry, but for a completely different reason. I will cry until the day Martin makes a movie that is worth seeing twice. RATING: 1 PROS: Nothing CONS: Excruciatingly unfunny ADDITIONAL INFORMATION:
|
#
¿
Feb 9, 2006 19:50
|
|
|
|
| # ¿ Apr 28, 2024 17:01 |
|