The Pink Panther 2is an adequate, but not great, follow-up to its adequate, but not great, Steve Martin predecessor. On paper, The Pink Panther 2seems solid. Start with the cast. It features John Cleese, Jeremy Irons, Alfred Molina, Andy Garcia, Lily Tomlin and the outrageously ravishing Aishwarya Rai. Throw in a screenplay that works better than the first Martin Panther and all seems primed for gold. But then there’s the weak link. Steve Martin seems more cloying and annoying this time around. The main problem is, while Peter Sellers’ Clouseau was stupid, Martin’s is stooopit. There’s a big difference between the two. Perhaps the underlying issue is with the accent. For Sellers, it was one element of a broad, seamless caricature, a nasally voice behind a mouth that butchered whatever language was being spoken. For Martin,... [read full story]
