# Mortdecai = Clouseau? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [January 13, 2015, 6:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mortdecai-clouseau/709734 "2015-01-13T18:51:41Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 18\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2015, 6:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mortdecai-clouseau/709734/1 "2015-01-13T18:51:41Z")
I haven’t seen the movie or read the books they’re based on. But I’ve seen the ad campaign for the upcoming movie _Mortdecai_. And every time I see one, I feel like I’m seeing an ad for a reboot of the _Pink Panther_ series. From the ads, it looks like Mortdecai is just an Inspector Clouseau expy. Anyone else feeling this? If so, is the movie itself going to be like this or is it just the ad campaign selling the movie this way? Can people who’ve read the books tell me if they’re like this? Don’t get me wrong. I loved the Pink Panther movies and would have no problem watching a well-made imitation of them. ---
**Author:** ![Sampiro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/2acd7d/32.png) [@Sampiro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sampiro)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2015, 7:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mortdecai-clouseau/709734/2 "2015-01-13T19:01:13Z")
I haven’t read/am not familiar with the books either, but I can say that I saw the trailer in a huge packed Imax theater and I don’t think I heard as much as a chuckle at the trailer. I don’t think I’d buy stock in this one. ---
**Author:** ![Nom\_de\_Plume](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/85f322/32.png) [@Nom\_de\_Plume](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nom_de_Plume)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2015, 7:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mortdecai-clouseau/709734/3 "2015-01-13T19:35:02Z")
I’ve seen the ads and laughed, and I laughed at the Peter Sellers’ version of \*Pink Panther \*(of course, I was much younger.) I did not laugh at all at the Steve Martin reboot. If it is a reboot of the _Panther_ series, then, in my mind, it’s more in keeping with the original. I’m looking forward to it. ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2015, 8:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mortdecai-clouseau/709734/4 "2015-01-13T20:13:09Z")
I’m with the OP on this, as far as the movie trailers go. First time I saw it, I said to the wife “Inspector Clouseau redux, don’t you think?” ---
**Author:** ![obfusciatrist](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/4af34b/32.png) [@obfusciatrist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/obfusciatrist)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2015, 8:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mortdecai-clouseau/709734/5 "2015-01-13T20:23:55Z")
I find myself thinking “Inspector Clouseau and Johnny English had a baby!” ---
**Author:** ![Alessan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alessan/32/465_2.png) [@Alessan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alessan)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2015, 9:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mortdecai-clouseau/709734/6 "2015-01-13T21:40:56Z")
And I thought, “So Depp is doing another humorous character with humorous hair. O joy.” ---
**Author:** ![bienville](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/4bbf92/32.png) [@bienville](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bienville)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2015, 9:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mortdecai-clouseau/709734/7 "2015-01-13T21:42:41Z")
> [@Nom\_de\_Plume](#): > > I did not laugh at all at the Steve Martin reboot. I don’t remember if it was the first one or the second one (yes, I watched both, Emily Mortimer has a way of getting me to do things I wouldn’t otherwise do) but in one of the movies Clive Owen has a single scene in which he is so wonderfully hilarious that it made the whole movie worth it and I have worshipped him ever since. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2015, 10:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mortdecai-clouseau/709734/8 "2015-01-13T22:43:58Z")
> [@Nom\_de\_Plume](#): > > I’ve seen the ads and laughed, and I laughed at the Peter Sellers’ version of \*Pink Panther \*(of course, I was much younger.) I did not laugh at all at the Steve Martin reboot. If it is a reboot of the _Panther_ series, then, in my mind, it’s more in keeping with the original. I’m looking forward to it. I only said I’d like to see a well-made imitation. That eliminates any Pink Panther movies with Steve Martin or Roberto Benigni or, og help us, Ted Wass. ---
**Author:** ![bonzer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/45deac/32.png) [@bonzer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bonzer)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2015, 10:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mortdecai-clouseau/709734/9 "2015-01-13T22:47:43Z")
> [@Little\_Nemo](#): > > Can people who’ve read the books tell me if they’re like this? Speaking as someone who started reading the books last year and only then realised that there was a film in the works, um, no they’re not. If absolutely forced to summarise Bonfiglioli’s style - and only if you have to point that at me - then I might - but anybody reading this sort of story would already know this - suggest PG Wodehouse crossed with George MacDonald Fraser. In the novels, the central character and narrator is a middle-aged, tubby, snobbish Mayfair art dealer who retains a hulking thug by the name of Jock - because that’s what all Mayfair art dealers do - who can flawlessly do everything from any form of illegality to rustling up a perfect dinner or hangover cure, but who is most certainly not regarded by Mortdecai as his butler/valet/manservant. He’s his thug. The plots are ludicrous, but from fairly early on he implausibly acquires an over-sexed sex-bomb crass and buxom American billionaire as a wife. At its most obvious, none of Depp, Bettany and Paltrow seem obvious casting for any of those three parts. In any permutation. Granted, if he can do a Scots accent, then I could see Ray Winstone pulling off Jock Strapp in some parallel universe. No, the whole thing’s just a terrible idea for a film, never mind a putative franchise. Bonfiglioli strikes me as one of those authors, like Wodehouse or Fraser, whose comic style is a compact between the writer and the reader. Adaptations just usually immediately have to junk what made them genius in the first place. ---
**Author:** ![Dr.Drake](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ad7895/32.png) [@Dr.Drake](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr.Drake)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2015, 11:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mortdecai-clouseau/709734/10 "2015-01-13T23:20:36Z")
> [@bonzer](#): > > Speaking as someone who started reading the books last year and only then realised that there was a film in the works, um, no they’re not. > > If absolutely forced to summarise Bonfiglioli’s style - and only if you have to point that at me - then I might - but anybody reading this sort of story would already know this - suggest PG Wodehouse crossed with George MacDonald Fraser. > > In the novels, the central character and narrator is a middle-aged, tubby, snobbish Mayfair art dealer who retains a hulking thug by the name of Jock - because that’s what all Mayfair art dealers do - who can flawlessly do everything from any form of illegality to rustling up a perfect dinner or hangover cure, but who is most certainly not regarded by Mortdecai as his butler/valet/manservant. He’s his thug. > The plots are ludicrous, but from fairly early on he implausibly acquires an over-sexed sex-bomb crass and buxom American billionaire as a wife. > > At its most obvious, none of Depp, Bettany and Paltrow seem obvious casting for any of those three parts. In any permutation. > Granted, if he can do a Scots accent, then I could see Ray Winstone pulling off Jock Strapp in some parallel universe. > > No, the whole thing’s just a terrible idea for a film, never mind a putative franchise. Bonfiglioli strikes me as one of those authors, like Wodehouse or Fraser, whose comic style is a compact between the writer and the reader. Adaptations just usually immediately have to junk what made them genius in the first place. I am quoting you in full because I agree 100%. Also, it’s really only the first book (and the title of the second) that’s worth reading. The first book is genius. The others, more of the same but meh. From the trailers, the film appears to miss the point completely, miss the gay subtext entirely, and mistake the humour thoroughly. They more or less seem to have understood the plot. ---
**Author:** ![MovieMogul](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f08c70/32.png) [@MovieMogul](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MovieMogul)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2015, 11:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mortdecai-clouseau/709734/11 "2015-01-13T23:26:53Z")
Johnny Depp seems to be channelling Terry-Thomas, from the huge gap in the teeth to the dimbulb English snobbery. That alone makes it promising to me (TT was a perfect buffoon) but the trailer was a mixed bag for me–sometimes, comedies are more about tone that jokey joke so ads don’t always do them justice, but it’s been a while since Depp did a comedy that was actually funny. I’ll wait to see what the critics have to say. ---
**Author:** ![Biffy\_the\_Elephant\_Shrew](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e47c2d/32.png) [@Biffy\_the\_Elephant\_Shrew](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Biffy_the_Elephant_Shrew)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2015, 12:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mortdecai-clouseau/709734/12 "2015-01-14T00:54:33Z")
> [@bonzer](#): > > over-sexed sex-bomb crass and buxom Very good. Can you say “rubber baby buggy bumpers”? ---
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2015, 12:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mortdecai-clouseau/709734/13 "2015-01-14T00:57:09Z")
Aha. I’ve only seen it spelled Mordecai, and I assumed it was going to be a palace intrigue about Esther’s cousin. ---
**Author:** ![Hail\_Ants](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/dc4da7/32.png) [@Hail\_Ants](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hail_Ants)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2015, 4:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mortdecai-clouseau/709734/14 "2015-01-14T04:20:34Z")
I don’t know who the ‘Mordecai’ character is either, but my first thought was,\* “God, they so should have had Depp play Clouseau in the reboot!”\* He’s got the acting & comedy chops to play it like Sellers did. Incredibly subtle, dry whit mixed with broad slapstick. Martin can only do one or the other, not both. ---
**Author:** ![bonzer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/45deac/32.png) [@bonzer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bonzer)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2015, 10:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mortdecai-clouseau/709734/15 "2015-01-17T22:52:57Z")
A [_Daily Telegraph_](http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/books/11347524/The-real-Mortdecai.html) take on the cultish nature of the books, ahead of the film version. ---
**Author:** ![bonzer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/45deac/32.png) [@bonzer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bonzer)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2015, 12:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mortdecai-clouseau/709734/16 "2015-01-25T00:11:24Z")
Well, the UK reviews of the film have ranged from the mediocre to the abysmal. So [another long piece](http://www.theguardian.com/books/2015/jan/23/johnny-depp-mortdecai-bonfiglioli-novels), this time by Sam Leith in _The Guardian_, on the varied merits of the books. ---
**Author:** ![Penfeather](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/penfeather/32/384_2.png) [@Penfeather](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Penfeather)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2015, 8:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mortdecai-clouseau/709734/17 "2015-01-25T20:09:12Z")
It looks like a Mike Myers movie, just before his career tanked. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/the_other_waldo_pepper/32/12370_2.png) [@The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Other_Waldo_Pepper)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2015, 8:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mortdecai-clouseau/709734/18 "2015-01-25T20:41:54Z")
> [@Penfeather](#): > > It looks like a Mike Myers movie, just before his career tanked. From your mouth to the [reviewer’s](http://www.nj.com/entertainment/index.ssf/2015/01/mortdecai_review_jolly_good_no_neither.html) ear: _“Jolly good? No, neither. Johnny Depp’s ‘Mortdecai’ is like ‘Austin Powers,’ but without the jokes … Depp is unbearable … Paltrow is nearly lifeless … no one else makes much of an impression.”_