Starring Rowan Atkinson, Willem Dafoe, Jean Rochefort, Karel Roden, Emma De Caunes
Written By:
Directed By: Steve Bendelack
Studio: Universal
Buy on Amazon.com link

Remember when Mr. Bean used to be a great little series on BBC and PBS/HBO? I certainly do and I wish my memory could be preserved to enjoy that still. A few years ago “Bean” was released in theaters and was unbelievably unfunny. It appears with “Holiday” that makes it 0 for 2. I was sort of looking forward to reviewing this in hopes maybe a few years has passed and Mr. Bean had become funny again. After hearing how big of a hit this film was overseas, I couldn’t believe how bad this film was. I think maybe I chuckled or smirked once or twice. Rowan Atkinson’s beloved character is back and for all of us, I would hope the character would just retire already.

It’s a typical rainy June in England and Mr. Bean is off to the local church for a vacation raffle. It turns out he wins and the trip is for a beautiful trip to the South of France and Cannes, right around the film festival. After that, the film takes a nosedive into the dull story and the unfunny. I think it hurt its potential when they decided to make a cutesy film and to go for a G rating. I remember when they aired Mr. Bean’s series here on HBO and there were some edgy humor and definitely not always for children, what happened? I think the basic premise of this film was that it was Mr. Bean trying to capture his trip through his camcorder since he could make an amateur film in time for Cannes. He meets a gentleman in the train station and wants him to videotape of his arrival onto the train and evidently leads to this man missing the train. His son is left on board and Bean feels compelled to watch over the kid until he could meet up with his father. Knowing they are all headed to Cannes, Bean and the kid head off on their little adventure. I think this was the big part of the film’s problem. Leave the kid out of it and stick to just Bean. Willem Dafoe is in the film for some reason as well and plays a pretentious filmmaker who’s obsessed with himself and his character plays into Bean’s adventures across Paris and eventually Cannes.

The set includes its typical flare of featurettes including deleted scenes, and some behind the scene footage from Bean’s location shooting across France. I was really disappointed in the film as you could tell and wish it was much much funnier. Rowan Atkinson is great as the Bean character and his use of hardly any dialogue is reminiscent of Charlie Chaplin’s work. It’s a shame Bean hasn’t taken this long hiatus and worked on a funnier script. I know there is lots of talent in Britain, but maybe the Mr. Bean character should head back to the drawing board.

Features:
-Deleted Scenes
-French Beans
-Beans in Cannes
-The Human Bean

Audio:
-ENGLISH: Dolby Digital 5.1 CC
-SPANISH: Dolby Digital 5.1
-FRENCH: Dolby Digital 5.1

Video:
Widescreen 1:85:1 Color (Anamorphic)

Subtitles:
English, Spanish, French

Favorite Scenes: Errr, Not sure if there are any
Rating: G
Running Time: 90 minutes
Extras Rating:
Overall Rating: