Just about everyone today is probably still familiar with the lovable, mischief-raising Pink Panther from a cartoon series they would have seen on Saturday mornings.  What you may not realize is that the Pink Panther actually got its beginnings with a series of movies, starting Peter Sellers as a clueless French detective after a jewel thief, the first of which came out in 1963, titled, The Pink Panther.

Fast forward 43 years.  Now Steve Martin is taking up from Sellers as the bumbling French Inspector Jacques Clouseau, in what is essentially a prequel to the 1963 original as the story explains how, despite his inept disposition, actually moved up the ranks to a first class Inspector with the French Police.

Immediately after winning a key football game (err, that’s soccer here in North America), the head coach of the French team is murdered right on the field in front of millions of fans and his priceless Pink Panther diamond, which he was wearing only moments before he was killed, is missing.

Chief Inspector Dreyfus of the French Police knows this won’t be easy to solve.  So he decides to begin a quiet investigation while promoting clueless Officer Jacques Clouseau to full Inspector to make some general noise on the case.

As Inspector Clouseau follows lead after lead that eventually take him as far New York City where his French accent runs him into trouble, he is making a name for himself as a reputable Inspector.

What really holds this movie together and keeps your attention is the amount of unending energy Steve Martin (Cheaper by the Dozen, Father of the Bride) gives the role. He does very well to hold his French accent throughout and does well to get some good laughs out of it such as in a scene where he is trying to learn an American accent.  He also has the ability to, through his wildly clueless antics, pass his energy level on to his costars in a way that most of the other actors only come off as good in the scenes that they share with Martin.

This is especially true of Kevin Kline which is disappointing given his outstanding performances in films such as The Emperor’s Club and Dave.  In this movie however, unless he’s sharing a scene with Martin, Kline comes off as very dry and uninteresting.

An exception however might be professional recording artist Beyoncé Knowles (Austin Powers: Goldmember) who stars as the widow of the murdered soccer coach.  In fact, she may have given her role just a little too much energy as she displayed very little, if any, grief over her murdered husband nor was it a plot point for her not to.

Born in Morocco to Spanish parents, Jean Reno (French Kiss, Mission: Impossible) has starred in mostly French films.  Here he plays 2^nd class Inspector Ponton assigned to assist and observe Clouseau.  His character’s intentions are a bit confusing at times, but he obviously has a good heart and proves to be an excellent sidekick to Martin’s Clouseau.  Side note: watch for Reno in the upcoming Da Vinci Code.

British actress Emily Mortimer (Dear Frankie, Disney’s The Kid) is actually quite perfect Clouseau’s equally awkward secretary.  Although she doesn’t really have any scenes without Martin it is difficult to say whether she would have come off as flat as Kline.

Canadian actor Henry Czerny (Mission: Impossible, External Affairs) had a small, but pivotal role as a Russian soccer trainer.  With so few scenes it is difficult to judge his performance.  But, given how pivotal his role was, it would have been nice to see him in a few more scenes.  Perhaps, though, he was, and we’ll get to see those on the DVD when it comes out…perhaps.

While kids may enjoy Martin’s extensive stunts and antics, they may nut understand the plot; even older kids may have a tough time with this.  Certainly anyone high school age and up should be able to appreciate and understand this comedy with some great gags, including one about James Bond.  Overall, for Martin’s performance alone, I do feel this movie was worth my box office bucks.