Bumbling Inspector Clouseau must solve the murder of a famous soccer coach and find out who stole the infamous Pink Panther diamond.
Before thousands of enthusiastic spectators at the World Cup semi-finals between France and China, an elusive professional assassin murders the famous French coach, and manages, somehow, to steal from his hand his prized possession--the priceless Pink Panther diamond ring. Now, of all the Parisian Police Force's detectives, the deceitful Chief Inspector, Dreyfus, decides to appoint the maladroit investigator, Jacques Clouseau, to this difficult and mysterious case, knowing that the eccentric gendarme is way out of his depth. Does Dreyfus have a hidden agenda? Can France's clueless and most bumbling officer of the law piece together the scarce leads to pull off a surprising success?—Nick Riganas
A clumsy male police officer is given the task of solving the murder of a male soccer coach and the disappearance of a pink diamond. Working with a team, the male police officer investigates and does everything that he can to solve the case.—RECB3
When the coach of the France soccer team is killed by a poisoned dart in the stadium in the end of a game, and his expensive and huge ring with the diamond Pink Panther disappears, the ambitious Chief Insp. Dreyfus assigns the worst police inspector Jacques Clouseau to the case. His intention is to give a diversion to the press, while he uses his best men to chase the killer and thief. He assigns Gendarme Gilbert Ponton to work with Clouseau and inform each step of the investigation. When Clouseau is nominated with honor to the highest prize in France, Dreyfus decides to humiliate Clouseau and take him out of the case. However Clouseau has already solved the mystery.—Claudio Carvalho, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
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 (Beyonce), after whispering something to her. After France wins in sudden death, 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 Legion 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. Clouseau is a bumbling person and is never far away from an accident when he is around any given situation. Clouseau was incompetent at best, and did not deserve any career advancement what-so-ever.Dreyfus has been nominated for the Medal of Honor 7 times and has never won.
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. Clouseau befriends Ponton and falls in love with Secretary Nicole Durant (Emily Mortimer).However, Dreyfus did not count on Ponton becoming good friends with Clouseau and becoming remorseful of his orders.
Although Clouseau makes little progress in the case, due to his clumsiness, he still discovers that many people hated Gluant and even wanted to kill him.Bizu, a footballer in the French team, says that Raymond Laroque (Roger Rees), a wealthy casino owner and friend of Yves Gluant killed him, as Gluant was stealing money from a restaurant that Laroque and Gluant had partnered in, and was using the stolen money to fund his gambling addiction.
Ponton believes that Bizu is a suspect as Gluant suspended Bizu and stole his girlfriend. Clouseau is his comical self, playing both the good cop and the bad cop during interrogations, and electrocuting himself while demonstrating a torture device to Bizu.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, Raymond admits that he had a life insurance policy on Gluant which will not pay until the murderer is caught. And if Raymond is the murderer, then the policy certainly won't pay.Clouseau encounters British Secret Agent 006, Nigel Boswell (Clive Owen). Boswell foils a robbery at the casino by the notorious "Gas-Masked Bandits", using Clouseau's trench-coat to hide his identity. Clouseau mistakenly receives credit for the deed in the press and is nominated for the Medal of Honor, 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 Honor, Dreyfus has one of his officers' switches 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 pronounce "hamburger" correctly, having attempted to smuggle some onto the flight back. 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 Elysee 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. 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. Xania confesses that Gluant gave her the diamond as an engagement ring just before the France-China match, but after his murder, she believed that if she came forward with the ring, everyone would think she did it. Clouseau concludes that Xania is the ring's rightful owner, and Yuri is taken into custody. Clouseau concludes that Xania is the rightful owner of the ring, as Gluant gave it to her before his death.
Clouseau wins the Legion D'Honneur which disappoints Dreyfus. Leaving the ceremony, Dreyfus' suit accidentally gets caught in Clouseau's car door, causing Dreyfus to be dragged down the street as an oblivious Clouseau drives away. While visiting a gravely injured Dreyfus in the hospital, Clouseau accidentally releases the brake on Dreyfus' bed, which rolls through the hospital and crashes through a window, throwing him down into the Seine as he screams out Clouseau's name, while Clouseau, Ponton, and Nicole watch from inside.
