Mr. Bean's Holiday (2007)

Mr. Bean returns!

Rowan Atkinson is brilliant in his Mr. Bean role. I have never seen the first feature length film, but I have seen most (if not all) of his TV skits, and this film is in keeping with that tone. I loved the skits, and this film provided some of the biggest laughs I have had watching movies in a long time. Yes, there are some groans, but that is to be expected from visual comedy--take that alongside the belly laughs and be grateful!

The best scenes, in my opinion, were the lobster-eating scene, the street improv dance, and the movie showing. The lobster scene had me laughing so hard I almost hurt! In any case, the humor is clean and funny. If you don't like the character of Mr. Bean then don't waste your time, but if you think Mr. Bean is funny, you should like this movie.

Oh, and I watched a few of the extras too. They are insightful and worth watching. I don't always watch extras, but I would recommend these.
September 30, 2008

The New Peter Sellers? Nope!

I found this film to be annoying for the most part. The film seemed a poor attempt to capture the comedy of the "Pink Panther" movies. Atkinson is no match for Sellers. The film is silly, insulting, and just plain dumb. Sorry I wasted an evening viewing this stinker. September 30, 2008

Sidesplitting Funny!

Brilliant film, all the cleverness of a silent film with gorgeous cinematography, hysterically funny scenes, and a warm feel good ending. 5 stars!!! Very family friendly, also. August 29, 2008

Mr. Bean scores a home run... again!

The affable bumbling simpleton from England is back, this time rollicking his way to the south beaches of Cannes, Fr., and boy does he score a home run with one!

Mr. Bean wins a church raffle lottery and a trip to lovely Cannes. He also wins a never-to-parted-with handycam as part of the package win. These are enough and off he sets. However, where there's Mr. Bean, how can trouble be far behind...

There are twists and turns, in typical Mr. Bean style, and he's able to separate a son from his father, miss his train, lose his passport, miss the bus which he had to take instead of the train, drive with his eyelids clipped open, drive an egotistical movie director nuts, win over the heart of a budding French actress... the list can go on and on.

But then, you aren't here to read the story and all the pranks. You'd much rather see them. And, IMO, that would be an excellent idea!

The child in Mr. Bean (rather, the child Mr. Bean!) takes over this movie, and he's been able to deliver an even better package than the original movie years ago.

What separates a Mr. Bean movie from other slapstick creations of the genre is that he takes amusement (of the audience) to new heights, hitherto maintained by the likes of Sir Charles Chaplin. Whoever says really funny gags require good dialogue delivery doesn't know Mr. Bean.

Atkinson has made unbelievably funny moments out of otherwise drab sequences.. like (trying to) dial all the possible nos. to reach the boy's father, lip-syncing an opera on a sunny afternoon in a suburban French town marketplace, eating a seafood platter... in short, really a commendable job.

Why not 5 / 5 - you ask? Well, some of the sequences seemed a bit stretched out to me, and seemed to be placed not to further the story or the plot but just because they had been thought of in the first place and had to be accommodated.

Highly watchable nevertheless!
My favorite scene - the opera in the marketplace!!

Overall score: 4 / 5 July 6, 2008

Deeper than you think

I truly enjoyed watching this film. Having studied a number of foreign languages, I could understand almost all of the dialogue, and the use of different languages gave a lovely multicultural breadth. The beautiful scenery added even more richness.

The casting I felt was particularly good. You've got to have ordinary people whom Mr. Bean can play off of. All of the characters were believable, especially the movie director and the young boy. The young actress was too good to be true! What a beautiful role she played!

Mr. Atkinson takes his work as a communicator very seriously, and the humor is only part of the equation. For example, the lost bus ticket; what does it mean? Is it merely a means to get him running after a chicken? No. I believe it represents the typically puny way we as human beings try to determine our existence, instead of trusting God to introduce us to the Sabines of this world and line up the bus roofs for us to walk on to the beach.

So, for the many who underappreciate this film, I would encourage them to watch it again, and purposefully look beyond the childishness. The English tend to be quite subtle about things, and we Americans miss a lot more than we realize. June 23, 2008

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