# Poll: Inspector Clouseau: Steve Martin, yea or nay? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [October 16, 2005, 6:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-inspector-clouseau-steve-martin-yea-or-nay/326447 "2005-10-16T06:07:11Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Operation\_Ripper](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/34f0e0/32.png) [@Operation\_Ripper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Operation_Ripper)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2005, 6:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-inspector-clouseau-steve-martin-yea-or-nay/326447/1 "2005-10-16T06:07:11Z")
[Rotten Tomatoes linky](http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/pink_panther/) Please watch trailers before commenting. Thank you. and what the hell is Beyonce doing in it? ---
**Author:** ![Larry\_Mudd](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/f14d63/32.png) [@Larry\_Mudd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Larry_Mudd)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2005, 7:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-inspector-clouseau-steve-martin-yea-or-nay/326447/2 "2005-10-16T07:20:58Z")
Nay. Good god, nay. Really, Inspector Clouseau isn’t a great literary character that anyone can step into. He’s actually a piss-poor character, and the Pink Panther movies were very poorly conceived. What made them so watchable was Peter Sellers’ inimitable performance. Period. Peter Sellers could do comic accents and physical comedy and not _just_ be doing a comic accent and physical comedy. His Clouseau was alchemy – a rare case in which a silk purse _was_ fashioned out of a sow’s ear. (In my opinion, the only thing that justified Blake Edwards’ earthly existence was _Richard Diamond, Singing Detective_. Class.) Watching Steve Martin “do” Clouseau, even for that long, was like passing a kidney stone. ---
**Author:** ![betenoir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/258eb7/32.png) [@betenoir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/betenoir)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2005, 7:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-inspector-clouseau-steve-martin-yea-or-nay/326447/3 "2005-10-16T07:25:08Z")
I couldn’t get teh link to work on RottenTomatoes but I watched the trailwer elsewhere. And I’m going with…nay. Seems very…unnecessary. I think it was made because Steve Martin really wanted to play Clouseau. And who could blame him? Certainly a great slapstick role and Martin is a great slapstick actor. And he coud probably live up to Peter Sellers. But, why bother? I don’t see anything in the trailer that indicates they should have bothered. ---
**Author:** ![Larry\_Mudd](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/f14d63/32.png) [@Larry\_Mudd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Larry_Mudd)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2005, 7:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-inspector-clouseau-steve-martin-yea-or-nay/326447/4 "2005-10-16T07:33:23Z")
Also… If Roberto Benigni couldn’t resurrect the spirit of Clouseau, nobody can. How many times are they going to keep running into this brick wall? ---
**Author:** ![priapus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ed655f/32.png) [@priapus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/priapus)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2005, 8:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-inspector-clouseau-steve-martin-yea-or-nay/326447/5 "2005-10-16T08:08:34Z")
It’s so wrong,I don’t know where to begin.This is direct to video stuff ---
**Author:** ![Sage\_Rat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sage_rat/32/399_2.png) [@Sage\_Rat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sage_Rat)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2005, 11:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-inspector-clouseau-steve-martin-yea-or-nay/326447/6 "2005-10-16T11:38:55Z")
Martin looked like he was having a hard time just keeping the accent… And waaaaay to stiff to be doing slapstick. Maybe in Dirty Rotten Scoundrels days he could do great over-the-top impersonations, but he appears to have since lost it. ---
**Author:** ![anyrose](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/54ee81/32.png) [@anyrose](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/anyrose)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2005, 11:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-inspector-clouseau-steve-martin-yea-or-nay/326447/7 "2005-10-16T11:55:48Z")
> [@Sage Rat](#): > > Martin looked like he was having a hard time just keeping the accent… And waaaaay to stiff to be doing slapstick. > > Maybe in Dirty Rotten Scoundrels days he could do great over-the-top impersonations, but he appears to have since lost it. I agree NAYNAYNAYNAYNAYNAY Steve Martin has been doing a lot of straight characters, even in so called comedies like the 2 Father of the Bride remakes; perhaps he’s lost the frenetic edge he had in the late 70’s early 80’s (IMHO, he’d already started to lose it by DRS) ---
**Author:** ![Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bosda_di_chi_of_tricor/32/16845_2.png) [@Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bosda_Di_Chi_of_Tricor)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2005, 12:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-inspector-clouseau-steve-martin-yea-or-nay/326447/8 "2005-10-16T12:05:14Z")
Nay. And ho-hum. ---
**Author:** ![Baldwin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/baldwin/32/7264_2.png) [@Baldwin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baldwin)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2005, 12:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-inspector-clouseau-steve-martin-yea-or-nay/326447/9 "2005-10-16T12:56:10Z")
Nay – and I can’t imagine why Steve Martin is doing this stuff instead of something original. As noted: a) Peter Sellers’ unique comic gifts were the only thing that made the character watchable in the first place; and b) anybody who plays Clouseau will actually be doing a Peter Sellers impersonation. ---
**Author:** ![Tapioca\_Dextrin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Tapioca\_Dextrin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tapioca_Dextrin)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2005, 1:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-inspector-clouseau-steve-martin-yea-or-nay/326447/10 "2005-10-16T13:15:56Z")
Just to add to the pile on, it’s just horrible on every level. ---
**Author:** ![Mr.Blue\_Sky](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d26b3c/32.png) [@Mr.Blue\_Sky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Blue_Sky)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2005, 1:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-inspector-clouseau-steve-martin-yea-or-nay/326447/11 "2005-10-16T13:30:47Z")
No, for the love of Og, NO! ---
**Author:** ![Paul\_in\_Qatar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ccd318/32.png) [@Paul\_in\_Qatar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Paul_in_Qatar)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2005, 1:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-inspector-clouseau-steve-martin-yea-or-nay/326447/12 "2005-10-16T13:39:53Z")
I see they delayed the release again to the highly-competitive February time frame. Maybe the studio knows something. ---
**Author:** ![Sam\_Stone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecccb3/32.png) [@Sam\_Stone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sam_Stone)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2005, 5:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-inspector-clouseau-steve-martin-yea-or-nay/326447/13 "2005-10-16T17:32:21Z")
It’s impossible to say from the trailer whether it will be good or not. Martin does a pretty good Clouseau impersonation, but what will matter is the script. It could be hilarious, or it could suck. I’m guessing ‘suck’, but it’s really too early to tell. ---
**Author:** ![mobo85](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b19c9b/32.png) [@mobo85](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mobo85)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2005, 6:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-inspector-clouseau-steve-martin-yea-or-nay/326447/14 "2005-10-16T18:29:27Z")
> [@Paul in Saudi](#): > > I see they delayed the release again to the highly-competitive February time frame. Maybe the studio knows something. Apparently, the reason the film was delayed was due to the recent purchase of MGM by Sony Pictures. They’re apparently straightening things out over there and are looking for a boffo picture to start their new regime. I don’t know if this will perform like it, though. ---
**Author:** ![ccwaterback](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/df705f/32.png) [@ccwaterback](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ccwaterback)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2005, 6:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-inspector-clouseau-steve-martin-yea-or-nay/326447/15 "2005-10-16T18:42:47Z")
Robin Williams may be a better fit for Clouseau. ---
**Author:** ![ftg](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ftg/32/2801_2.png) [@ftg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ftg)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2005, 7:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-inspector-clouseau-steve-martin-yea-or-nay/326447/16 "2005-10-16T19:23:35Z")
> [@mobo85](#): > > Apparently, the reason the film was delayed was due to the recent purchase of MGM by Sony Pictures. They’re apparently straightening things out over there and are looking for a boffo picture to start their new regime. I don’t know if this will perform like it, though. From what I’ve read on movie news sites is that the new Sony people are making it Loud and Clear that this turkey is the fault of the Previous Management. It’s being released in Feb. for not a good reason. IME, Steve Martin is best as an intelligent guy stuck in an absurd situation. E.g., “Roxanne” and “Planes, Trains and Automobiles.” The more “wild and crazy” he is, the worst the film. So I never had any positive expectations for this one. ---
**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:** [October 16, 2005, 8:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-inspector-clouseau-steve-martin-yea-or-nay/326447/17 "2005-10-16T20:22:50Z")
I’ll be the voice of dissent here and say that, surprisingly, I wasn’t repulsed by the trailer. The character has always been deliberately over the top, while being played straight, if that makes sense. Martin seems to be achieving that end. It was never high art, just comedy slapstick, and perhaps he’ll pull it off. ---
**Author:** ![Mr.Blue\_Sky](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d26b3c/32.png) [@Mr.Blue\_Sky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Blue_Sky)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2005, 8:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-inspector-clouseau-steve-martin-yea-or-nay/326447/18 "2005-10-16T20:25:39Z")
> [@Chefguy](#): > > …and perhaps he’ll pull it off. Like a fresh scab, I’ll bet. ---
**Author:** ![Larry\_Mudd](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/f14d63/32.png) [@Larry\_Mudd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Larry_Mudd)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2005, 9:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-inspector-clouseau-steve-martin-yea-or-nay/326447/19 "2005-10-16T21:42:05Z")
> [@Chefguy](#): > > The character has always been deliberately over the top, while being played straight, if that makes sense. I think I know what you mean. Sellers had a way of playing outrageous, impossibly absurd characters with improbably broad accents, but turning the trick of _selling_ them as earnest, sincere, and emotionally true people. With not only Clouseau, but Harold Fine (_I Love You, Alice B. Toklas_,) Bakshi (_The Party_,) and any number of other characters, he conveyed action that was hysterical to the observer, and at the same time did an impeccable job of _acting_ the part of a person seriously trying to cope with the terrible problem of being born absurd in a serious world. This made his performances much funnier than simple slapstick because of tension of this high contrast – and even lent a considerable amount of genuine pathos to his characters. > [@Chefguy](#): > > Martin seems to be achieving that end. No, wait, we’re definitely talking about something else. Martin’s Clouseau screams “Look at me! I’m talking funny and knocking things over! Aren’t I a scream?” in a camp skit/class-clown kind of way, without coming close to Sellers’ trick of treating the character as though he were an actual person and not a two-dimensional comic sketch. ---
**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:** [October 16, 2005, 9:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-inspector-clouseau-steve-martin-yea-or-nay/326447/20 "2005-10-16T21:46:06Z")
> [@Larry Mudd](#): > > No, wait, we’re definitely talking about something else. Martin’s Clouseau screams “Look at me! I’m talking funny and knocking things over! Aren’t I a scream?” in a camp skit/class-clown kind of way, without coming close to Sellers’ trick of treating the character as though he were an actual person and not a two-dimensional comic sketch. You could be right, but it’s hard to tell in a short trailer piece. He seemed to be right on the cusp of catching it/flubbing it, although the original cannot be beat, IMO. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-inspector-clouseau-steve-martin-yea-or-nay/326447.md?page=2)