The Pink Panther (2006 film)

The Pink Panther
Theatrical release poster
Directed by	Shawn Levy
Produced by	Robert Simonds
Screenplay by	Len Blum Steve Martin
Story by	Michael Saltzman Len Blum (Story) Blake Edwards Maurice Richlin (Characters)
Starring	Steve Martin Anne Katarine Kevin Kline Jean Reno Emily Mortimer Henry Czerny Kristin Chenoweth Roger Rees Beyoncé Knowles Jason Statham
Music by	Christophe Beck Henry Mancini (Theme)
Cinematography	Jonathan Brown
Editing by	George Folsey, Jr. Brad E. Wilhite
Studio	The Montecito Picture Company
Distributed by	Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Columbia Pictures
Release date(s)	February 10, 2006 (2006-02-10)
Running time	93 minutes
Country	United States France Czech Republic
Language	English
Budget	$80 million
Box office	$182,071,965[1]

The Pink Panther is a 2006 American comedy film and a reboot^{[citation needed]} of The Pink Panther film series. In this film, Inspector Jacques Clouseau (Steve Martin) is assigned to solve the murder of a famous soccer coach and the theft of the famous Pink Panther diamond. The film also stars Kevin Kline, Jean Reno, Emily Mortimer, and Beyoncé Knowles. It was panned by critics and holds a 23% score on Rotten Tomatoes. However, it was a box office success and became the highest-grossing film of the Pink Panther series.

Plot

The film opens as Chief Inspector Charles Dreyfus (Kevin Kline) tells the case of the Pink Panther diamond. As Dreyfus narrates, a flashback occurs of a soccer match between France and China. French coach Yves Gluant (Jason Statham) comes down the stadium, wearing the Pink Panther diamond ring, and kisses his girlfriend, pop star Xania (Beyoncé Knowles), after whispering to her. After the game, Yves dies with a poison dart in his neck and the Pink Panther missing from his hand (thus leading to the animated opening titles, created by Kurtz & Friends). Eager to win the Medal of Honor (the Légion d'honneur), Dreyfus promotes a clumsy Gendarme, Jacques Clouseau (Steve Martin) to the rank of Inspector and assigns him the case while Dreyfus assembles a secret team of investigators to crack the case and allow Dreyfus to take the glory. Dreyfus assigns Gendarme Gilbert Ponton (Jean Reno) as Clouseau's assistant and instructs him to keep the Chief Inspector informed of Clouseau's progress with the case.

Clouseau is unsuccessful at first, bungling one situation after another. Bizu (William Abadie), a star player who hated Gluant and was the prime suspect, is shot in the head and killed. A witness named Cherie (Kristin Chenoweth) heard Bizou say "Oh, it's you," before being shot; therefore Clouseau tells Ponton to gather all the people in Paris with the name "Yu". He interviews an old Cantonese woman (credited as "Yu"), but although he claims he understands Chinese, he does not appear to understand what she says. While at a casino to interrogate the owner Raymond Larocque (Roger Rees), Gluant's business partner, he encounters British Secret Agent 006, Nigel Boswell (Clive Owen, parodying James Bond). Boswell foils a robbery at the casino by the notorious "Gas-Masked Bandits". Clouseau mistakenly receives credit for the deed in the press and is nominated for the Légion d'honneur, much to Dreyfus's chagrin.

Clouseau follows Xania to New York City, suspecting that she knows more than she is telling. Meanwhile, based on the fact that the poison that killed Gluant was derived from Chinese herbs, Dreyfus concludes that the killer is a Chinese envoy named Dr. Pang. Now ready to take charge of the case and win the Légion d'honneur (and prevent Clouseau from doing so), Dreyfus has Clouseau's bag switched with one full of illegal weapons while Clouseau waits at the airport for his return flight to France. The bag sets off the metal detector at the security gate and Clouseau is arrested because of his inability to pronounce "hamburger" correctly (despite endless dialect coaching) when asked what was in his pockets (he had stored hamburgers in his pockets for the trip). Upon his return to France, the press vilifies him and Dreyfus strips him of his rank. The Chief Inspector plots to publicly arrest Dr. Pang at the Presidential Ball.

At home, Clouseau is reading an online article about his arrest when he notices something significant in the photo. He deduces that the murderer will next try to kill Xania and contacts Ponton. The two detectives rush to the Élysée Palace and sneak into the Presidential Ball with the help of Clouseau's former secretary, Nicole Durant (Emily Mortimer). While Dreyfus arrests Dr. Pang for double murder, Clouseau and Ponton save Xania's life by capturing her would-be assassin, Yuri (Henry Czerny), the French soccer team's trainer, who believes he was the one who helped the team succeed but Gluant took all the credit. Clouseau explains that the Cantonese woman, Yu's information about herbal medicine being used by sports trainers combined with the fact that Bizu was shot in the occipital lobe of the brain as Russian military are specifically trained to do, pointed to Yuri being the expert marksmen who would know the precise location of the occipital lobe and would work with herbal medicine. Clouseau reveals that Yuri tried to kill Xania because she has the Pink Panther diamond sewn into the lining of her purse, having received it from Gluant as an engagement ring. She had kept it secret to avoid becoming a suspect in her late fiancee's murder which could have destroyed her singing career. Clouseau explains that he saw the diamond in an online photograph of his arrest, which showed Xania's purse on the airport's luggage scanner. For successfully solving the case, Clouseau wins the Légion d'honneur.

Later, Dreyfus is severely injured when he is inadvertently dragged behind Clouseau's Smart car for several minutes after Clouseau unknowingly closed the door on his pants leg. A visit by Clouseau to the hospital where Dreyfus lies bandaged culminates in Dreyfus and his hospital bed plunging through a window into the Seine River as he lies on a gurney, shouting in anger, "CLOUSEAU!!".

Cast

• Steve Martin as Inspector Jacques Clouseau
• Kevin Kline as Chief Inspector Charles Dreyfus
• Jean Reno as Gendarme Gilbert Ponton
• Emily Mortimer as Nicole Durant
• Henry Czerny as Yuri the Trainer
• Kristin Chenoweth as Cherie
• Roger Rees as Raymmond Laroque
• Beyoncé Knowles as Xania
• William Abadie as Bizu
• Scott Adkins as Jacquard
• Charlotte Maier as Dialect Coach
• Jason Statham as Yves Gluant (uncredited)
• Clive Owen as Nigel Boswell/Agent 006 (uncredited)
• Paul Korda as Pierre Fuquette (uncredited)

Reception

The film received mixed to negative reviews and currently^[when?] holds a 23% rating on Rotten Tomatoes. The film more than doubled its budget in earnings.^{[citation needed]}

Music

Christophe Beck is credited with the film score which was released as the soundtrack album The Pink Panther about one month following the release of the film.^[2] Singer Beyoncé Knowles performed two songs for the film, "A Woman Like Me" and "Check on It". The latter serves as the film's theme song aside from the Pink Panther theme.

Numerous other songs were used in small parts, but only Beck's original score was included on the soundtrack album.^[2][3]

Sequel

Main article: The Pink Panther 2

The sequel to this film titled The Pink Panther 2 was released on February 6, 2009.

Notes

1. ^ http://www.boxofficemojo.com/movies/?id=pinkpanther05.htm
2. ^ ^{a b} Beck, C. (2003). The Pink Panther CD. Studio City: Varese Sarabande.
3. ^ Shuman, I., Simonds, R., Trench, T. (Producers), & Levy, S. (Director). (2006). The Pink Panther. Los Angeles, CA: Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer.

External links

• Official website
• The Pink Panther at the Internet Movie Database
• The Pink Panther at Box Office Mojo