Bean is back and he’s won a trip to Cannes. However, he gets into trouble as only Bean can along the way.
The rubber faced Rowan Atkinson plays Mr. Bean as a child trapped in a man’s body. He portrayed the character on the popular BBC program (1990-1995), the 1997 film Bean, and a 2002 animated television series. This sequel finds Mr. Bean (Rowan Atkinson) winning a trip to Cannes, France, a new video camera to document his trip, and 200 pounds in spending money.
Mr. Bean then makes his way to Paris to catch his train to Cannes. He first stops for a spot of lunch in the train station restaurant suggested by the helpful waiter (Jean Rochefort), but Bean has a spot of trouble with the proper etiquette of eating the meal. He makes it to his train and gets a stranger (Karel Roden) to videotape him boarding the train, however, he also causes the stranger to miss the train.
Bean discovers that the stranger’s son (Max Baldry) is aboard the train and Bean feels responsible for reuniting the two. Bean barely speaks as it is and the boy only speaks Russian, but dad yelled at the kid to get off at the next stop. The lad’s dad arrives on the next train but that train doesn’t make a stop at this station so he holds up a sign with his cell number on it – the last two digits are obscured.
So now Bean and the boy have to find their way to Cannes, where the father has entered his film into the competition. Along the way Bean runs into aspiring actress (and love interest) Sabine (Emma de Caunes) and self-centered writer/director/producer/star Carson Clay (Willem Dafoe).
Mr. Bean is what one could call an international character since he barely says a word (well except the only French word he knows – “Gracias!”), much like Charlie Chaplin. I did enjoy the first film of Bean’s adventures, but it seemed to rely too much on the gags that were in the television adventures.
Although it took a decade, Mr. Bean returns to the screen and this time seems to have brought a host of new jokes with him. Some say that the film apes Monsieur Hulot’s Holiday, but those unfamiliar with it won’t notice much.
Most of the gags appear to be Bean-specific in this outing, are quite hilarious, and fun for the whole family since this film features a G rating.
Mr. Bean’s Holiday is presented in anamorphic widescreen (1.85:1) and is enhanced for 16x9 televisions. A fullscreen version is available separately. Special features include 23 minutes of deleted scenes.
The 11 minute “French Beans” is a making-of that interviews director Steve Bendelack, Rowan Atkinson, writer Simon McBurney, producer Tim Bevan, Max Baldry, co-producer Caroline Hewitt, Emma de Caunes, writer Hamish McColl, and production designer Michael Carlin. The 5-minute “Beans in Cannes” discusses how the film shot during the real film festival and adds Willem Dafoe to the mix. The 6-minute “Human Bean” talks about Atkinson in the role.
Mr. Bean’s Holiday is a hilarious use of Atkinson’s character and I found that I liked this one much better than the first film (which seemed to use far too much from the series). My whole family enjoyed his antics and it was quite a good film.
Mr. Bean’s Holiday is now available at Amazon and AmazonUK . Visit the DVD database for more information.
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