My expectations for this film were very low. Generally speaking, taking a movie off of the schedule of one year and bumping it to the dumping ground of early the following year isn’t a huge sign of confidence. The executives must have known what they were doing, though, because “The Pink Panther” was number one at the box office last weekend and I’ll wager that word of mouth will keep it number one again this weekend. Deservedly so, too. In my opinion, this is Steve Martin’s funniest movie since “Bowfinger,” which is an underrated comedy classic.

Martin plays Inspector Jacques Clouseau and while he plays it with more of a wink-wink, nudge-nudge than Peter Sellers in the original, he is fabulous. Once you accept Martin’s performance, especially the horrendous accent, the laughs just keep on coming and there are several bits in this film that could go on his all-time greats reel. The comedy comes at the audience from all angles, from slapstick to cheeky word play, and Martin proves that he is a master of all comedy.

The plot involves a stolen diamond, the Pink Panther, and the murder of a soccer coach and one of his top players. Clouseau, of course, bumbles his way through the investigation, which is exactly what Dreyfus, Clouseau’s superior played by Kevin Kline, wants. Kline was a minor disappointment, perhaps because he is playing a straight man in this film, but the supporting cast is just that in this film, support for Martin to play off of in his scenes. Nobody in the supporting cast was anything particularly special but they didn’t need to be. This was a Steve Martin vehicle and this time no little kids falling in messy stuff were going to upstage him.

Is this version a classic like the original? Hard to say without repeated viewings, but it was strong. This movie revels in its silliness and if you go along for the ride, you should have a good time.

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