The Pink Panther (2006 film)
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| The Pink Panther | |
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| Directed by | Shawn Levy |
| Produced by | Robert Simonds |
| Written by | Len Blum Steve Martin Michael Saltzman Rawson Marshall Thurber (uncredited) |
| Starring | Steve Martin Kevin Kline Beyoncé Knowles Jean Reno Kristin Chenoweth |
| Distributed by | Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer through: USA Theatrical and Worldwide DVD/Video Sony Pictures Entertainment Non-USA Theatrical 20th Century Fox (UK, Italy, Germany, Argentina, Singapore, Japan, and various affiliates and joint-ventures worldwide) |
| Release date(s) | February 10, 2006 |
| Running time | 93 minutes |
| Country | USA |
| Language | English |
| Budget | $80 million |
| Preceded by | Son of the Pink Panther (1993) |
| Followed by | The Pink Panther Deux (2009) |
| IMDb profile | |
The Pink Panther is a comedy film released in 2006. It is a reboot of the the Pink Panther film series. In this film, Inspector Jacques Clouseau (Steve Martin) is assigned to solve the murder of a famous football coach and the theft of the famous Pink Panther diamond.
This film also stars Kevin Kline, Beyoncé Knowles, and Jean Reno.
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[edit] Plot synopsis
The film opens with the French national soccer team’s victory over the Chinese national soccer team, the murder of French coach Yves Gluant (Jason Statham), and the disappearance of his Pink Panther diamond ring. Chief Inspector Charles Dreyfus (Kevin Kline), eager to win the Légion d'honneur (referred to as the "Medal of Honor" in the film), appoints the "most incompetent policeman" in France, Inspector Jacques Clouseau (Steve Martin), to the case as a diversion. Dreyfus has assembled a team of investigators to tackle the mystery in secret, planning to take over the case and win the Légion d'honneur. Dreyfus appoints Gendarme Gilbert Ponton (Jean Reno) to report on Clouseau's whereabouts at all times.
Clouseau makes only a little progress at first, bungling one situation after another. Bizu, a star player who hated Gluant and was the prime suspect, is shot in the head and killed. A witness had heard him say "Oh, it's you." immediately before being shot; therefore Clouseau tells Ponton to gather all the people in Paris with the name "You". He interviews an old Cantonese woman (credited as "Yu") and appears not to understand her, though it is revealed later that he understood every word. While at a casino, with the intent of asking some questions of owner Raymond Larocque (Gluant's business partner), he encounters British Secret Agent 006 Nigel Boswell (Clive Owen parodying James Bond). Boswell poses as Clouseau in order to conceal his identity while stopping a robbery by the notorious "Gas-Masked Bandits". Clouseau gets credit for the deed and thus is nominated for the Légion d'honneur, much to Dreyfus's annoyance.
Believing that Gluant's girlfriend Xania (Beyoncé Knowles) knows more than she has revealed, Clouseau follows her to New York City. He tries to perfect a flawless American accent but has no success (despite hiring the greatest dialect coach in the world). Before he can return to France, his bag is exchanged for another by a woman working for Dreyfus while he waits in line at airport security. The new bag, which contains several weapons (including a flail, a pocket knife, nunchucks, a grenade, and a revolver), sets off the metal detector; after he refuses to empty his pockets, which contain hamburgers, he is arrested. Clouseau initially tries to tell the airport staff about the hamburgers, but no one understands his ridiculous accent. Upon Clouseau's return to France, Dreyfus insults him and strips him of his inspector rank, preparing to win the case. Based on his evidence -- that the poison that killed Gluant was derived from Chinese herbs -- Dreyfus deduces that the killer is a Chinese envoy named Dr. Pang, whom he plans on arresting at the upcoming Presidential Ball. Dreyfus orders the event planners to remove Clouseau's name from the guest list.
Having returned home, Clouseau finds a photo of his arrest on the Internet. He sees something significant in the photo, and immediately makes his way to the Élysée Palace with Ponton, where they sneak into the Presidential Ball. Dreyfus arrests Dr. Pang for double murder, but Clouseau and Ponton are able to prevent the murder of Xania by pursuing and capturing the real killer, who turns out to be Yuri, the French soccer team's trainer. Clouseau reveals that the Cantonese woman "reminded" Clouseau that all soccer trainers must be skilled in Chinese medicine; furthermore, Bizu was shot in the occipital lobe of the brain, a location that would be known to Yuri, as all soldiers who served in the Russian military must also be expert marksmen and know the precise location of the occipital lobe (though in the film the shot was actually into the frontal lobe). Xania is revealed to have the Pink Panther diamond sewn into the lining of her purse. Gluant gave it to her as an engagement ring just before his death; she is therefore entitled to it under French law. Clouseau declares that it was the photo of his arrest that revealed everything to him. When he enlarged it he saw the ring in the monitor of the airport's x-ray scanner. Dreyfus makes a clumsy attempt to take credit, saying his arrest of the Chinese envoy was a ploy to draw out the real killer. For his success, Clouseau wins the Légion d'honneur.
Later, Dreyfus is severely injured when Clouseau's Smart car drags him on the road for several minutes after Clouseau closes the door on his pant leg, getting it stuck. A visit by Clouseau to the hospital where Dreyfus lies bandaged culminates in Dreyfus's plunge through a hospital window into a river as he lies on a gurney.
[edit] Box office performance
In these countries, the film debuted at #1:
- U.S. (making over US $21.7 million in its first week).
- Canada #1 (2 months)
- Guatemala #1(1.5 months)
- Mexico #1 (replacing Big Momma's House 2 at the top),
- Brazil #1 (3 weeks)
- Spain #1 (3 weeks)
- Taiwan #1
- Australia #1
- Germany #1
- United Kingdom #1
- United Arab Emirates #1
- Russia #1
- Greece #1
- Turkey #1
- Lebanon #1
- Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina #1
Performance in other countries:
- New Zealand #2 (went to #1 the following week)
- The Netherlands #2
- Sweden #2
- Egypt #2
- Poland #3
- France #3
- Italy #3
- Norway #4
As of March 12, 2007, the film had grossed a total of $82,226,474 in the United States Box Office and $158,851,357 worldwide.
Since the film did better at the box office than expected, a sequel is in production, although Knowles declined to return.
[edit] Cast
- Steve Martin - Inspector Jacques Clouseau
- Kevin Kline - Chief Inspector Charles Dreyfus
- Beyoncé Knowles - Xania
- Jason Statham - Yves Gluant
- Jean Reno - Gendarme Gilbert Ponton
- Emily Mortimer - Nicole
- Henry Czerny - Yuri the Trainer Who Trains
- Kristin Chenoweth - Cherie
- William Abadie - Bizu
- Scott Adkins - Jacquard
- Dexter Bell - Terry Ahkee-Sauce
- Clive Owen - Nigel Boswell/Agent 006 (uncredited)
- Paul Korda - Pierre Fuquet (uncredited)
- Charlotte Maier - Dialect Coach
Mike Myers was considered for the role of Clouseau [1]. Robin Williams was an early contender [2]. Kevin Spacey was rumoured for the role but angrily denied it[3].
[edit] Previous Treatments
During filming, Sony Pictures Entertainment purchased MGM. This acquisition led to a $5 million re-shooting and re-editing process in order to garner a PG rating, therefore appealing to a family-friendly audience rather than the original, more mature target audience. A novelization published in July 2005 was based on the final version of the script prior to the extensive re-shoot. Some of these deleted scenes are available for viewing on the DVD edition of the film, such as the alternate airplane sequence. Not including those scenes, the differences between the version in the novel and the final film are as follows:
- In the final film, Clouseau's antics as a village gendarme are revealed in an explanation from Dreyfus, accented with flashbacks of several short, unique incidents. Originally, there was to be a single separate scene showing a typical case of Clouseau's, involving the robbery of a hot dog cart.
- Several press conference scenes are much longer in the pre-edit version. In addition, there are several scenes featuring Dreyfus speaking to his deputy chief Renard, dispensing his thoughts as the case develops.
- The scene involving Nicole taking Clouseau's measurements also included additional lines of mildly risque dialogue while trying to find his waist measurement.
- During the scene where Clouseau first interrogates Xania, she mentions giving Gluant "the greatest gift... my virginity." At the end of the scene, as Clouseau and Ponton are leaving, Clouseau asks Xania if she would someday "lose her virginity to me too," to which she slyly responds "Maybe."
- Before Clouseau meets Agent 006, he plays a game of roulette and is flabbergasted upon losing.
- The scene where Clouseau places a leaky pen in Dreyfus's breast pocket is a running gag in the earlier draft.
- The already suggestive scene in Xania's hotel room is even more racy in the earlier version. Also, upon losing the Viagra pill down the drain, Clouseau sneaks out of the hotel and into the city, in the hopes that he can refill his prescription. Before doing so, he deposits his "Flaming Mojito" in a potted plant in the lobby. Clouseau visits two pharmacies, both of which are closed. Using Agent 006's glass-cutting device (seen earlier in the Gas Mask Bandits scene), he breaks into the second pharmacy and gets the medication himself. Just before the romance begins, the mojito sets the lobby ablaze. Everyone is evacuated to the streets, including practically-naked Xania and Clouseau.
- The Medal of Honor ceremony is seen in the earlier version. A humiliated Dreyfus is forced to present the award to Clouseau and Ponton, complete with the customary hug and kiss. Following the ceremony, the police receive word that the Gas Mask Bandits from earlier in the film have escaped, and Clouseau and Ponton jump on the case. In the chaos, Dreyfus is knocked off a bridge into the Seine, causing Clouseau to sigh and deliver the ironic film-closing line, "A great detective, the chief inspector... but clumsy."
[edit] Awards
The film won one award and is shown on the front of the DVD. It was the "Award of Excellence" given by The Film Advisory Board Inc..
[edit] 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.[1] Singer Beyoncé Knowles performed two songs for the film, "A Woman Like Me" and "Check On It", and numerous other songs were used in small parts, but only Beck's original score was included on the soundtrack album.[2][1]
[edit] References
[edit] Notes
[edit] External links
- The Pink Panther at the Internet Movie Database
- The Pink Panther official website
- to watch the alternative title sequence created by Kuntzel+Deygas, also visible only on the DVD with audio comments by Shaun Levy
| Preceded by When a Stranger Calls |
Box office number-one films of 2006 (USA) February 12, 2006 |
Succeeded by Eight Below |
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