The Pink Panther (2006 Film) - Plot

Plot

The film opens as Chief Inspector Charles Dreyfus (Kevin Kline) narrates a flashback of a soccer match semi-final between France and China. French coach Yves Gluant (Jason Statham) comes down the stadium, wearing the Pink Panther diamond ring, and kisses his girlfriend, pop star Xania (Beyoncé Knowles), after whispering something to her. After France wins the game, Yves dies with a poison dart in his neck and the Pink Panther missing from his hand. Eager to win the Medal of Honor (the Légion d'honneur), Dreyfus promotes a clumsy policeman and "village idiot", Jacques Clouseau (Steve Martin), to the rank of Inspector and assigns him to the Pink Panther case. Meanwhile, Dreyfus assembles a secret team of top investigators to crack the case, allowing Clouseau to serve as the public face of the investigation so that media attention is focused on Clouseau rather than Dreyfus's team. Dreyfus assigns Gilbert Ponton (Jean Reno) as Clouseau's assistant and instructs Ponton to keep him informed of Clouseau's actions. However, Dreyfus did not count on Ponton becoming good friends with Clouseau, and becoming remorseful of his orders.

Bizu (William Abadie), a French footballer who had an affair with Xania - and therefore is the prime suspect in Gluant's murder - is shot in the head by an unknown assassin in the team's locker room. While at a casino, Clouseau encounters British Secret Agent 006, Nigel Boswell. Boswell foils a robbery at the casino by the notorious "Gas-Masked Bandits", using Clouseau's trenchcoat to hide his identity. Clouseau mistakenly receives credit for the deed in the press and is nominated for the Medal of Honour, much to Dreyfus' dismay.

Clouseau follows Xania to New York City, suspecting that she knows more than she is telling. However, despite Ponton's insistence that she is most likely a suspect because Gluant cheated on her, Clouseau decides Xania is innocent. Meanwhile, based on the fact that the poison that killed Gluant was derived from Chinese herbs, Dreyfus concludes that the killer is a Chinese envoy named Dr. Pang. Now ready to take charge of the case and win the Medal of Honour, Dreyfus has one of his officers switch Clouseau's bag with one full of weapons at the airport for his return flight to France. The bag sets off the metal detector at the security gate and Clouseau is arrested due to his inability to pronouce "hamburger" correctly. Upon his return to France, the press vilifies him and Dreyfus strips him of his rank for "trying to become a hero". The Chief Inspector now plots to publicly arrest Dr. Pang at the Presidential Ball, where Xania will also be performing.

At home, Clouseau is reading an online article about his arrest when he notices something significant in the photo that he believes may solve the case. From the photo, he deduces that the murderer will next try to kill Xania, and contacts Ponton. The two detectives rush to the Élysée Palace and sneak into the Presidential Ball. While Dreyfus publicly arrests Dr. Pang for double murder, Clouseau and Ponton save Xania's life by capturing her would-be assassin, Yuri (Henry Czerny), the soccer team's Russian trainer; Yuri believed he was the one who helped the team succeed, though Gluant took all the credit. Clouseau explains that every national soccer team's trainer is required by statute to have a knowledge of Chinese herbs (accounting for the dart). He then explains that Yuri killed Bizu, after the latter blackmailed him, using Russian military tactics. Clouseau then reveals that Yuri tried to kill Xania out of revenge for her dismissal of him while she was dating Gluant. Clouseau also concludes that the Pink Panther diamond was never stolen, but is sewn into the lining of Xania's purse; Xania received it from Gluant as an engagement ring. She had kept it secret to avoid becoming a suspect in her late fiance's murder, which could have destroyed her singing career. Clouseau explains that he saw the diamond in the online photograph of his arrest, which showed Xania's purse on the airport's luggage scanner, but concludes that Xania is the rightful owner of the ring, as Gluant gave it to her before his death.

For successfully solving the case, Clouseau wins the Medal of Honour. While leaving with Ponton, following the ceremony, Clouseau accidentally gets Dreyfus's jacket caught on his car; he remains oblivious to Dreyfus's screams as he drives away. Clouseau and Ponton later visit him in the hospital. After Clouseau wishes him well, he accidentally releases the brake on Dreyfus's bed. The bed races through the hospital and throws Dreyfus into the Seine.