Mr. Bean's Holiday: Movie Review

I guess Mr. Bean is one of those phenomena that you either love or hate; this can be confirmed by a quick visit to the venerable IMDB forums. Many people seem to attack the character and the features in which he appears as "stupid." Indeed, there's nothing haughty or intellectual about the character or his works - they're just pure, physical comedy, in the tradition of such worthies as Jacques Tati and Peter Sellers. And yet, in their writing, timing, and execution, many of Mr. Bean's gags are pure genius. Just to cite a few examples of Mr. Bean's twisted behavior from the TV series: His credit card and a surly guy's credit card get mixed up. So instead of saying something to him, he follows him and tries to pick his pocket. And his hand gets stuck in the guy's back pocket as he's walking into the stall in the men's room. He oversleeps on the morning of a dentist appointment, so he decides to get dressed and brush his teeth in the back seat of his car, while driving with his feet. He's hosting a New Year's party, and doesn't have food handy. So he opens the window and pulls twigs off of a branch outside and serves them as hors d'oeuvres. Absurd stuff, but great. They way the character is presented, it's hard not to like him, perhaps even relate to him - I know I do. Yes, I'm a Bean fan. And yes, this review is going to be biased. Deal with it.

The news of a new Bean movie was bittersweet for me. Nothing has really been done with the character since his previous film in 1997, aside from a short-lived animated cartoon series. I was glad to see the dry spell end, but also saddened by Rowan Atkinson's announcement that this would be his final portrayal of Mr. Bean. Also, the first movie, while funny, didn't quite live up to the hilarity of the television series that ran in the mid-90s. This series featured a collection of five to ten minute skits, which is probably the ideal method of delivery for Mr. Bean's brand of humor.