Mr. Bean's Holiday is a 2007 adventure comedy film based on the British television series Mr. Bean, as well as a standalone sequel to 1997's Bean. Directed by Steve Bendelack and written for the screen by Hamish McColl and Robin Driscoll (a writer on the TV series), from a story by Simon McBurney, it is a French-British-American venture produced by StudioCanal, Working Title Films and Tiger Aspect Films, and distributed by Universal Pictures. The film stars Rowan Atkinson in the title role, with Max Baldry, Emma de Caunes, Willem Dafoe and Karel Roden in supporting roles.
Plot[]
Mr. Bean wins a holiday in France and sets out on his journey. Once there, he unknowingly separates a father-son duo and then decides to reunite them.
Why It's Great[]
- The movie has a much better grasp on the source material than the previous film, as Mr. Bean rarely speaks here, much like in the TV series.
- Much like the TV series, the film's gags are cleverly written and very funny to the point of them working very well, with some of them being reminiscent of famous French director and mime Jacques Tati.
- While the first film's humor was edgier and more family-unfriendlier (to the point of the film getting a PG-13 rating) than in the TV series, the humor here is toned down and reverted back to the humor style of the TV series, up to the point of getting a family-friendlier G-rating.
- Rowan Atkinson's performance as the title character is still as great as in the TV series; same goes for Willem Dafoe as the narcissistic filmmaker Carson Clay and Emma de Caunes as Sabine, the French actress whom Bean befriends.
- Five examples of famously hilarious scenes include:
- The famous "O mio babbino caro" dance scene involving Mr. Bean and Stepan.
- The running gag involving Bean calling random numbers to find Stepan's father.
- The just-as-famous scene where Bean chases a chicken on a truck via bicycle in order to retrieve his bus ticket.
- Bean horsing around on a film set whilst dressed up as a Nazi soldier.
- Bean attempting to hitchhike an elderly man's VeloSolex scooter to Cannes, only for his weight to make it harder for the bike to transport both him and the driver. When the driver gets off to fix the bike, Mr. Bean uses this as an opportunity to hijack it, but fails miserably.
- Top-notch direction by Steve Bendelack of The League of Gentlemen fame.
- Really great and uplifting soundtrack, especially Matt Willis' cover of Crash that plays during the scene where Bean bikes to retrieve his bus ticket from a chicken as previously mentioned.
- The bond with Bean and Stepan is really heartwarming and sweet from start to finish.
- Sabine is a very nice, kind and pretty person to look at. The same goes for her own Mini, which is almost identical to Mr. Bean's own. In fact, she could serve as a potential new love interest for Mr. Bean after his previous love interest, Irma Gobb, dumped him.
- The musical score is just as amazing and uplifting, thanks to Mr. Bean composer Howard Goodall returning to compose it.
- The ending is very heartwarming and concludes the film on a touching and satisfying note thanks to the main characters finally getting what they've desired: Mr. Bean finally arriving at the Cannes beach, Stepan being reunited with his parents, Sabine becoming a more famous actress and Carson Clay's film Playback Time getting a standing ovation.
- Overall, the film serves as a perfect send-off to Mr. Bean, despite him reappearing years later.
Bad Qualities[]
- While perfect for the most part, some scenes are a bit inappropriate for a G-rated film, such as the infamous scene where a man commits suicide by jumping off a bridge (though no blood or gore is shown) after thinking that his girlfriend dumped him over the phone (when it was actually Bean calling him in order to check if he is Stepan's father). The same goes to the scene where a Nazi attack on an unsuspecting French village is revealed to be part of a film production.
- There are also some mean-spirited moments, such as Bean separating Stepan from his father and Stepan making Bean miss his train by getting hold of his video camera as revenge, as well as Carson Clay removing Sabine's scenes from his movie out of spite (though this was immediately resolved by Bean).
- Mr. Bean's companion, Teddy, doesn't appear at all in the film.
Reception[]
On Rotten Tomatoes, the film has an approval rating of 51% based on 115 reviews with an average rating of 5.40/10.
Box Office[]
Despite receiving mixed reviews from critics, Mr. Bean's Holiday was a commercial success, grossing $232.2 million worldwide against a $25 million budget.