The Pink Panther (2006)

I was always a fan of The Pink Panther cartoon that sometimes aired on the Cartoon Network and I was well aware of the Peter Sellers version of The Pink Panther, but I've never viewed a full film. So for today while I was cruising Youtube, I figured I would watch the 2006 remake of The Pink Panther that was directed by Shawn Levy (Night At The Museum). The film stars Steve Martin (Cheaper By The Dozen) as the world famous Inspector Clouseau who gets hired to solve a case that involves the French National team coach (Jason Statham) getting killed and the Pink Panther diamond is stolen from him. Clouseau will have to do his best because there are those that rooting against him because his boss may have had the wrong intentions when hiring him. The film also stars  Jean Reno (Ronin) as Ponton, Kevin Kline (Wild Wild West) as Dreyfus, Beyoncé (The Lion King) as Xania, Emily Mortimer (Lars And The Real Girl) as Nicole, Henry Czerny (Ready Or Not) as Yuri, Kristin Chenoweth (BoJack Horseman) as Cherie, Roger Rees (If Looks Could Kill) as  Raymond Larocque, Philip Goodwin (Men In Black II) as Renard, William Abadie (Sex In The City) as Bizu, and Clive Owen (Children Of Men) as Agent 006.

There were times when the film was just OK as far as humor was concerned because a lot of the intrigue of The Pink Panther is physical slapstick comedy and that can only be so funny at times especially when you've seen the same stunt done in a million other films. Then there were times in the film when they had some honest comedy and that was funnier than the slapstick stuff like Clouseau trying to learn how to say hamburger and then seeing it done in a real situation where he still can't say it correctly. I definitely enjoyed have Jean Reno in the film because I thought he was the perfect counterpart for Martin where he was very dry and almost didn't say a lot. You could say that he was the perfect sidekick for Clouseau and it worked because Reno was great. The funny thing is that even though you are looking for the killer in the film, the real villain of the film isn't even the killer. The real villain of the film is Clouseau's boss played by Klein who just wants Clouseau to screw things up so that he can sweep in and save the day and look like the real hero. So, it was kind of cool to have that in the film because it makes you want the bumbling idiot to succeed. One of the positives of the film was definitely the great cinematography from the stadium to the streets in France to the scenes in New York City and the hotel. The film overall was a lot of fun to watch and that's kind of how you have to look at it. With all that being said, I am going to go ahead and give the film an B for a final grade.

Lars And The Real Girl (2007)

There are some creative minds in the independent filmmaking world that Hollywood has missed the ball on and some that get it. Ryan Gosling (Only God Forgives) has had a knack in his career for giving himself roles that not too many would take which includes today's film Lars And The Real Girl. The film was released in 2007 and it was directed by Craig Gillespie (I, Tonya) and in the film Gosling plays Lars, a very awkward, shy, and disconnected young man who has had a tough time with what life has thrown at him. After hearing about sex dolls at work, he decides to buy one, but something very strange happens. Lars believes that his doll Bianca is a real person and soon the whole entire town goes with it because they know how special Lars really is. The film also stars  Emily Mortimer (Mary Poppins Returns) as Karin, Paul Schneider (The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford) as Gus, Kelli Garner (Godzilla: King Of The Monsters) as Margo,  Nancy Beatty (Sea Of Love) as Mrs. Gruner, Patricia Clarkson (Maze Runner: The Death Cure) as Dagmar, Nicky Guadagni (Ready Or Not) as Mrs. Petersen, and Karen Robinson (Bad As I Wanna Be: The Dennis Rodman Story) as Cindy.

I honestly did not know what to expect when I first decided to watch this for free on on the VUDU app, but I have to say that I was pleased with the film overall. The film has this ability to show how caring the world can be no matter how weird the situation is. I mean this had to be a hard situation for anyone to get used to, but they did it because of how special of a person Lars is. I love the contrast too because here you have this brother (Gus) who feels that he is a failure because his brother is in love with a sex doll while his wife (Karin) understands what is happening and she goes with it. Lars has dealt with a lot in his life from the death of his mother and the weird behavior of his father so in order to move on he manifests all of his emotions into this doll as sort of a healing process. By the end, the town is shaken up by the events that it seems like everything will be OK and it's beautiful. This truly is a touching movie about how we should treat those with emotional detachments or struggles. It's so easy to treat someone like they are an outcast or a weirdo instead of taking the time to care for them and get them the help they need. Ryan Gosling puts on a masterful performance in this film proving why he was one of the best young actors in Hollywood in 2007 and why I enjoy his works today. This is definitely a film to check out with all of the amazing performances from everyone in the film. The movie is not completely sad, there is a happy ending of sorts, but you should check this one out if you love Ryan Gosling. I am going to give the film an A- for a final grade.