The Pink Panther

More of a prequel to than remake of the 1964 Blake Edwards diamond-heist farce that introduced Peter Sellers as bumbling Inspector Jacques Clouseau, director Shawn Levy's The Pink Panther most resembles the pathetic continuations of the series that followed Sellers' death. Steve Martin's efforts to imitate the prissy arrogance and blundering ineptitude that Sellers conveyed so brilliantly comes up short (while the British star made the routine seem effortless, even oddly endearing, Martin comes across as studied and false) in a labored film (the plot has to do with the murder of a soccer coach) that doesn't provide many opportunities to shine anyway. Sellers is not the only person missed here: in the older films Herbert Lom, as Clouseau's exasperated boss, was an equally important ingredient, but his replacement, Kevin Kline, lacks the mischievous intensity Lom brought to the part. So instead of the perfectly calibrated Sellers-Lom routines, we get hit-and-(mostly)-miss slapstick from Martin and Kline and some ill-considered jokes about flatulence and Viagra. Not recommended. [Note: DVD extras include audio commentary by director Shane Levy, 11 deleted scenes with optional commentary (24 min.), a 22-minute “Cracking the Case” making-of featurette, three behind-the-scenes “Sleuth-Cams” segments (18 min.), a 10-minute “Deconstructing the Panther” featurette, a nine-minute “Animated Trip” featurette about the various cartoon openings, a four-minute alternate opening with optional commentary by Levy, the music video “Check On It” and exclusive performance of “A Woman Like Me” by costar Beyoncé, and trailers. Bottom line: a fine extras package for a flop of a film.] (F. Swietek)[Blu-ray Review—Feb. 3, 2009—Sony, 93 min., PG, $28.95—Making its first appearance on Blu-ray, 2006's The Pink Panther sports a nice transfer with Dolby TrueHD 5.1 sound. Blu-ray extras are almost identical to those on the standard DVD release, including audio commentary by director Shawn Levy, 11 deleted scenes with optional commentary (24 min.), a 22-minute “Cracking the Case” making-of featurette, three behind-the-scenes “Sleuth-Cams” segments (18 min.), a 10-minute “Deconstructing the Panther” featurette, a nine-minute “Animated Trip” featurette looking at the various cartoon openings, a four-minute alternate opening with optional commentary by Levy, costar Beyoncé's music video “Check On It” and her extended performance of “A Woman Like Me,” and trailers. New to the Blu-ray release is the “Code Pink” animated graphics-in-picture track featuring the animated Pink Panther, and the BD Live function. Bottom line: bowing on Blu-ray to tie-in with the new Martin sequel, this first contemporary title in the series is sharper-looking, but the comedy is still claw-less.]