MR. BEAN'S HOLIDAY

"mmmmmm"

When Mr Bean (Atkinson) wins his local church raffle his dream is about to come true. The prize is a holiday to Cannes in the South of France and all he has to do is travel on the express train from London to Paris and then from Paris to Cannes but things are never that simple for Mr Bean. While trying to catch the train to Cannes, he inadvertently splits up a father and son, so now he has to try and unite Stepan (Baldry) with his father but he has missed the train.

Rowan Atkinson returns to one of the two characters that made him a star of comedy but unfortunately it isn't Edmund Blackadder.

Ten years after Atkinson's bumbling but lovable creation hit the silver screen in 'Bean' for the ultimate disaster movie, Mr. Bean returns and this time he is going on holiday. Winning the local church raffle, he receives an all-expenses paid trip to Cannes in the South of France but of course everything doesn't go to plan. When Rowan Atkinson and Richard Curtis created the character back in 1990 little did they know that this virtually silence, awkward klutz would become a firm family favourite with a live action and animated series. Now he has his second feature film but is this a character that really needs to return to the silver screen?

Waiting ten years since his last appearance is an extremely long time for fans of the hapless character. Based on the style of the silent comic masters such as Buster Keaton, Charlie Chaplin and Harold Lloyd, Mr. Bean is all about physical and expressional comedy at which Rowan Atkinson is extremely gifted. The problem is that the Mr. Bean character is one that you will either love or hate.

Watching him travel across France on this way to his dream holiday in Cannes should have been a journey made for some hilarious moments but unfortunately 'Mr. Bean's Holiday' only ever manages to raise a smile. Missing trains, loosing things, walking onto film sets and becoming wanted by the police are just some of the high jinx that the hapless one gets into but these set pieces are very simplistic and not that funny.

There is no denying that Rowan Atkinson is an extremely talented comedic actor and Mr. Bean is a creation that shows his skills in physical comedy but this is definitely not his best character. You have to wonder why this character gets a second movie when a 'Blackadder' movie is crying out to be made. The rest of the cast are fine, with the beautiful Emma de Caunes and Max Baldry as the lost Stepan doing a decent job but you have to question why Willem Defoe is in the movie as self obsessed director Carson Clay.

'Mr. Bean's Holiday' is a movie that only fans will enjoy. With very few laugh out loud moments and the strange inclusion of quite a lot of subtitles for a movie aimed at younger viewers, this is a disappointing comedy that really didn't need to be made. Let's hope Mr. Bean stays in France for a very long time.

PICTURE & SOUND

Presented in Anamorphic Widescreen 1.85:1 with a Dolby Digital 5.1 soundtrack, the movie is presented well.

BONUS FEATURES

French Beans (11.25 mins)
Director Steve Bendelack, writers Simon McBurney and Hamish McColl, producer Tim Bevan, co-producer Caroline Hewitt, production designer Michael Carlin and stars Rowan Atkinson, Emma de Caunes and Max Baldry take you behind the scenes of filming in France for Mr Bean's second movie adventure. The featurette reveals why France was chosen, what it was like filming in Paris and Cannes and the fact that the filmmakers wanted to evoke the essence of the silent era.

Beans in Cannes (5.51 mins)
Director Steve Bendelack, writers Simon McBurney and Hamish McColl, producer Tim Bevan, co-producer Caroline Hewitt and stars Rowan Atkinson, Emma de Caunes and Willem Dafoe talk about filming at the Cannes Film Festival, walking the red carpet, filming in the main auditorium and on the beach.

The Human Bean (6.13 mins)
Director Steve Bendelack, writers Simon McBurney and Hamish McColl, producer Tim Bevan, co-producer Caroline Hewitt and stars Emma de Caunes, Max Baldry and Willem Dafoe talk about working with Rowan Atkinson. They reveal how professional and how much of a perfectionist he is, transforming himself into the character as soon as the camera rolls.

Deleted Scenes (21.54 mins)
Entitled 'Bean spills coffee on laptop', 'Stephan spots Bean', 'Bean tricks businessman into swapping tickets', 'Bean carries Stephan across the market', 'Bean films himself doing silly moves on the road', 'Bean hitching and making shadows', 'Sabine struggle with her emotions', 'Sabine almost run over by truck', 'Bean mimes his journey to Stephan', 'Car owner faces off with cashier', 'Bean closes the door', 'Put your hands in the air', 'Bean falls asleep', 'Film projector chaos', 'Carson Clay picks up projector', 'Buskers sing La Mar' and 'Mr Bean dances', these deleted scenes suffer from the lack of a commentary track or introduction to reveal why the scenes were cut.

Trailers
Previews of 'Billy Elliot: The Musical' and 'Evan Almighty'

OVERALL

The DVD treatment for 'Mr Bean's Holiday' has some decent featurettes and deleted scenes but the lack of a commentary track might come as a disappointment to fans of the film. The extra features are aimed at an older target audience however with younger fans of the character missing out. Older fans should be pleased with this DVD however.

DVD

Bean

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2007