By Dan Dunn
Special to the Daily Press

The movie: The Pink Panther
The director: Shawn Levy
The stars: Steve Martin, Kevin Kline, Beyonce Knowles, Emily Mortimer

Borrowing the title and not much else from Blake Edwards’ 1964 comedy classic starring the late Peter Sellars, Steve Martin and his “Cheaper by the Dozen” director Shawn Levy have wrought what will surely go down as one of the more ill-advised rehashes of this or any other year.

Martin’s performance is bereft of any of the subtlety and precision comedic timing that made Sellars’ unwitting agitator, Inspector Clouseau, a slapstick superstar. The script, which Martin co-wrote, is numbingly unfunny and littered with recurring gags that rank down there with David Letterman’s disastrous “Uma-Oprah” Oscar shtick. This “prequel” should have fans of the original “Pink Panther” seeing red.

(Rated PG. Running time: 93 minutes)