Movie Review: Mr. Bean's Holiday

Starring:
Rowan Atkinson, Willem Dafoe, Clint Dyer, Jean Rochefort, Emma de Caunes, Karel Roden, Max Baldry

Director:
Steve Bendelack

MPAA Rating:
G (brief mild language)

Release Date:
August 2007

Synopsis:
Mr. Bean heads to the French Riviera for a vacation, but along the way becomes ensnared in an accidental kidnapping and a case of mistaken identity.

My Two Cents:
It’s crazy to think Mr. Bean has been around for 18 years and still manages to get attention and make people laugh. This second feature film has the bumbling idiot traveling to France to kick it at the beach in Cannes. He doesn’t speak French, and he’s traveling by himself so you know all sort of zany shit is bound to happen.

If you have no idea who Mr. Bean is you’ll still be able to enjoy the movie, but it’s so stupid and slow you might consider skipping it. Fans of the TV show know exactly what to expect, and that’s exactly what you get. Mr. Bean is a child in a grown man’s body, according to Rowan Atkinson, and that’s kind of sad when you think about it. Sometimes you laugh at him, sometimes you feel pity. He’s borderline retarded.



The problem I had with the movie is that even though the Bean character has its unique charms he’s just too stupid for me to care about him. Everything that happens to him is so silly, that maybe only small children will find it funny. Some scenes take forever to unfold, and there’s nothing funny about that. At one point Mr. Bean is hitchhiking for almost 10 minutes, another scenes has him listening to an endless list of cell phone ring tones, and then there’s the scene when he’s falling asleep while driving. You get the “joke” in a second but have to sit through for countless of minutes for it to be over so they can move on to the nest unnecessary long scene.

There’s some mild fun to be had regardless of the idiocy and ultra slow pace, and it’s only about 1 hour and a half long, so it’s somewhat bearable. I enjoyed Willem Dafoe’s character as well as the constant change in scenery. France seems like a nice place to visit and Cannes rocks. I don’t think we need another Mr. Bean movie, but at least this one doesn’t completely suck. Save it for the kids.

Score: