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2.1 KiB
Plaintext
Rather than despairing about the loss of a comedic genius or the choices made by studios or Director Blake Edwards after his death, my review will focus on Trail of the Pink Panther's successful eulogy for the series and the great Peter Sellers. The film is clearly a tribute from its dedication - "To Peter, the one and only Inspector Clouseau" to its ambiguous and seemingly symbolic ending.<br /><br />The Pink Panther has been stolen, and Clouseau (Sellers) is on his way to Lugash. Over the ocean, his plane disappears. Is Clouseau really gone or is this just another of his ingenious tricks and is he undercover in Lugash hunting the perpetrator. Chief Inspector Dreyfus (Lom)is at first overjoyed - he may finally be rid of Clouseau - but soon enough he begins to suspect that he will see his former colleague again, and his debilitating obsessions return. Meanwhile, a French reporter (Lumley) begins a series of investigative reports trying to get to the bottom of the Clouseau disappearance. She interviews Cato (Burt Kwouk) and many of Clouseau's enemies, colleagues and acquaintances.<br /><br />Sellers appears in the film only in archive footage and scenes cut from previous films. The same is true for most of the other Panther veterans in the film, but several new Dreyfus scenes were added. The first half of the film, prior to Clouseau's disappearance, hang together well-enough - but it is very clear that we are seeing a film which has been loosely cobbled together from a collage of material. The second half, while more coherent and linearly plotted, lacks Peter Sellers - and - really - just isn't very funny.<br /><br />Lom, Kwouk and Lumley turn in the best performances here, and after Clouseau's disappearance, Lom and Kwouk are really the only performers who occasionally create a laugh.<br /><br />The absence of Peter Sellers is palpable in the second half of the film, and although the film clearly attempts to remain light-hearted and Pantheresque, this absence lends a sadness to Trail of the Pink Panther which makes it a much more successful eulogy than comedy. However, all considered, it is probably the least entertaining film in the Pink Panther canon. |