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.

Ronin (1998)

You would think with a movie blog, I would have a list of movies to watch (which I do), but I'm just going with what interests me right now. What is a Ronin? A Ronin is basically a samurai who is shamed because he did not do his best to protect his master from death. So, now this solider roams the countryside looking for work as freelancers. The same could be said about the film that I chose to watch for today called Ronin that was released in 1998 and directed by the late John Frankenheimer (The Island Of Dr. Moreau). The film stars Robert De Niro (The Irishman) as former CIA agent Sam, who is hired by Deirdre (Natascha McElhone) along with a rogue group of guys in Vincent (Jean Reno), Gregor (Stellan Skarsgård), Spence (Sean Bean), and Larry (Skipp Sudduth) to steal a briefcase that contains something unknown before the Russians can get their hands on it, but what happens when one betrays them all? The film also stars Jonathan Pryce (Tomorrow Never Dies) as Seamus O'Rourke, Michael Lonsdale (Moonraker) as Jean-Pierre, Féodor Atkine (Love And Death) as Mikhi, Bernard Bloch (French Spies) as Sergi, Katarina Witt (Jerry Maguire) as Natacha Kirilova, and the late Amidou (Rules Of Engagement) as the Man at exchange.

So to start the convo, it's quite the cast they gathered for the film with names like De Niro, Reno etc., but was the film any good? I loved the idea of the film in where there is mission that they are going on and there is a lot of money on the line, but then it just goes a little overboard with the twists and the turns. So, we start with one of the team members stealing the briefcase and it becomes a hunt for him, but then it just changes way too many times in my opinion, but I also understand what they were doing and why. It was to show you that there was a lot more than just money on the line when it came to that briefcase because there was also national pride going on. It shouldn't come as a surprise with the conflict in Ireland and Northern Ireland being a hot topic in the 90's. Reno and De Niro were masterful in the film and it really shouldn't come as a surprise because they are two of the best in the business. The best thing about this film comes towards the last half of the film when Reno and De Niro go on the car chase through Paris. It's one of the more exhilarating and well shot car chase scenes I have seen in a film. Other than that, I thought it was a pretty decent film, an OK follow up to Heat for De Niro, but if you love these types of films then check it out for yourself for free right now on Youtube. I am going to give the film an B- for a final grade.