Pink Panther, The

Christian Science Monitor Peter Rainer

The staging of the physical comedy in The Pink Panther is not always adept - director Shawn Levy is no Blake Edwards - but Martin, who co-wrote the screenplay, keeps spinning in his own orbit anyway. And what an orbit it is.

USA Today Mike Clark

Transforming Clouseau's perennial nemesis into a more urbane smoothie, Kevin Kline delivers like a pro.

Seattle Post-Intelligencer William Arnold

Martin, who hasn't really clicked in a movie in years, hits the target this time with an Inspector Clouseau who is even more relentlessly annoying (and strangely endearing) than Sellers managed to be in his last several outings.

Premiere John Migliore

This one will make you laugh early and often, and send you out of the theater in a cheerful mood.

Los Angeles Times Carina Chocano

The best thing about the replica is how wholeheartedly Martin throws himself into the physical comedy, which is uniformly hilarious.

Chicago Tribune Michael Wilmington

This Pink Panther really doesn't have to achieve the heights of the original; it just has to be funny on its own terms. But it pales there too. Kline, a master of comic hypocrisy, deserves more screen time, Emily Mortimer is wasted as Clouseau's adoring assistant Nicole and Knowles is over indulged as Xania.

Wall Street Journal Joe Morgenstern

This slapdash farce, arriving three decades after Sellers last inhabited the role, sustains a baseline of good will that often spikes into delight at Mr. Martin's beguiling nonsense.

The Onion (A.V. Club) Scott Tobias

Martin makes a fine Clouseau, re-energizing musty old physical gags involving chandeliers and priceless vases, and rolling his tongue around a zesty form of pidgin French. If he ever finds his Blake Edwards, there may be hope for this franchise yet.

Variety Brian Lowry

Neither the disaster one might have suspected nor a fully realized madcap farce; rather, Steve Martin's foray as Inspector Clouseau exhibits bursts of wild-and-craziness, but hardly enough to sustain even its relatively brief running time.

Entertainment Weekly Lisa Schwarzbaum

Martin's gift for physical and vocal comedy is as deft as ever.

Dallas Observer Bill Gallo

An occasionally amusing but wrongheaded remake that arrives more than four decades after the original blazed across the screen.

New York Post Kyle Smith

Occasionally works and has a handful of great moments.

Baltimore Sun Michael Sragow

Even the cartoon Pink Panther in the credits seems off - at once too glitzy and too fey, more Peter Allen than Pink Panther.

Boston Globe Ty Burr

Suffice to say that Shawn Levy, director of the "Cheaper by the Dozen" movies, is no Blake Edwards; for every finely tuned slapstick fillip, there's a ton of messy, family-friendly buffoonery.

The Globe and Mail (Toronto) Liam Lacey

The best sequence is a five-minute set-piece where Clouseau struggles with an accent coach to learn how to order a hamburger like an American.

Empire Dan Jolin

With a better story, director and support cast, Martin could have made Clouseau his own. Still, it's not as bad as the one with Roberto Benigni.

LA Weekly Christopher Orr

With the exception of one scene with an accent coach, his (Martin) Clouseau is flabby and obvious, like your dad doing an impression at the dinner table.

New York Magazine David Edelstein

Steve Martin can be a delightfully spasmodic clown, but his Clouseau makes no sense.

Village Voice Ben Kenigsberg

The lack of energy suggests the film might as well have been constructed from outtakes.

The Hollywood Reporter Michael Rechtshaffen

Even with the inspired choice of Steve Martin in the Clouseau role, this "Panther" picture is more bumbling and fumbling than the blissfully oblivious, accident-prone Inspector.

The New York Times Stephen Holden

Mr. Levy's cold, streamlined direction gives the movie the feel of a mechanical contraption manipulated by remote control with a nervous finger on the fast-forward button. Many of the jokes barely have time to register before we're on to the next stunt.

Charlotte Observer Lawrence Toppman

Martin, who plays Clouseau and wrote the script with Len Blum, has completely mishandled the character.

TV Guide Ken Fox

Sacre bleu! Bumbling French police inspector Jacques Clouseau is back, and he's never been less funny.

Chicago Sun-Times Roger Ebert

At every moment in the movie, I was aware that Peter Sellers was Clouseau, and Steve Martin was not. I hadn't realized how thoroughly Sellers and Edwards had colonized my memory.

Chicago Reader Jonathan Rosenbaum

The mirthlessly sadistic gags tend to target people in wheelchairs or hospital beds and betray a mild if all-encompassing disgust for the source material and the audience.

Slate Dana Stevens

This movie leaves us with the stale whiff of fake nostalgia and something even more odoriferous: the smell of money.

Washington Post Ann Hornaday

Most of the humor in The Pink Panther derives from Martin's silly French accent, especially when he tries to pronounce the word "hamburger." But zat joke, she ees not funny. And The Pink Panther ees, how you say, ze real dog.

Miami Herald Rene Rodriguez

After a while, hearing Martin say ''Zee area eez zecure!'' doesn't cut it any longer, and that's pretty much all The Pink Panther has to offer.

ReelViews James Berardinelli

The Pink Panther is supposed to use humor to uplift. Instead, I departed this movie feeling depressed.

Philadelphia Inquirer Carrie Rickey

Alas, this joyless affair doesn't have a clou.

New York Daily News Jack Mathews

This, the 10th and worst-written entry in the series, would have been better if it had followed Dreyfuss instead of Clouseau, or if Kline had been cast as Clouseau instead of Martin.

Portland Oregonian M. E. Russell

It's pathetic.

San Francisco Chronicle Mick LaSalle

A graceless, embarrassing effort.

Film Threat Pete Vonder Haar

Sellers' comic mastery is completely fumbled by Martin and director Shawn Levy.

Austin Chronicle Steve Davis

Ultimately, one has to chalk up The Pink Panther to the good old traditions of Hollywood greed and chutzpah. Nothing this slapdash and badly executed is done for the love of movies.