Peter Sellers vs. Steve Martin: No Contest!

Steve Martin desecrated the memory of Peter Sellers and these pieces of garbage should have never gotten made.

Peter Sellers IS Closeau. Closeau IS Peter Sellers.

That sums it up for me. Anything else, it's like trying to cook a Bouillabaisse with meat.

I've never been much of a Steve Martin fan. I love Peter Sellers in this role, but I'm sure that other actors could pull off the part. I wish that, in the seventies, they had cast Jim Hutton. He would have been absolutely perfect!

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Jim Hutton: talented gorgeous hot hunk; adorable as ElleryQueen; SEXIEST ACTOR EVER

I guess they thought that since Steve Martin with his stand up experience over the years, and SNL stint, would be the logical choice,, and he probably is,, or maybe Robin Williams,, but in all seriousness,, no one,, and I mean no one can ever touch Peter Sellers,, god rest his soul
are you going to bark all day little doggie,, or are you going to bite

I primarily blame Shawn Levy, the director. He'd directed 'Cheaper by the Dozen' & the 'Night at the Museum' films. No Blake Edwards--he.

Steve can be genius, but, here, he looked like Steve Martin, with a silly moustache.

Though he's worn toupees for decades, and even dark ones, in 'Leap of Faith', Pennies from Heaven' & 'Little Shop of Horrors', he couldn't be bothered to wear one here---like Sellers himself did.

I think Kline should've played Clouseau, rather than Dreyfus. He would've been much more subtle, like Sellers, in the first 2. See: 'French Kiss'.

Carpe Noctem!

Martin`s not terrible though. Has his moments.



"facts are stupid things" - Ronald Reagan

Hard to say who is funnier, but the problem is Steve Martin trying to do a role invented by Sellers. Their styles are too different. Martin wasn't good at looking stupid, but desperately acting unaware of how idiotic he looked. Sellers was very good at that. He always seemed blithely unaware of what a bumbling moron he was and acted liked he thought he was the most competent person in the room. Martin just put on a silly accent.
Martin was pretty funny in the late 70 and into the 80s, but lately he seems to be phoning it in. Either way, this film is not the Pink Panther.

Very true. Any comparison between the two simply shows how excellent both Edwards and Sellers truly were.