Mr. Bean's Holiday (HD DVD)

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Rowan Atkinson first brought the popularity of his British television show "Mr. Bean" to American audiences with the 1997 film "Bean." "Mr. Bean´s Holiday" is the sequel to the first picture and arrives a decade later. The film, which reaches a broad audience, grossed over two hundred million dollars worldwide and proved that there was still an audience for Atkinson´s brand of humor nearly ten years after he took a long sabbatical from the character. Although the film found box office success, Rowan Atkinson has stated that "Mr. Bean´s Holiday" is the final bow for the character. With its G rating, the film was not something I terribly found interesting. However, my eleven year old nephew Austin considered it one of the finest films he has seen in 2007.

In this sequel, Mr. Bean (Atkinson) arrives in his familiar Mini Cooper to a church raffle. After thinking his winning ticket of 919 was a losing ticket of 616, Bean realizes he has won a vacation to the Cannes film festival and its rich beaches. He has also won a Sony Video Camera and some money to help finance his trip. Not having much intelligence, but a solid desire to see the beach, Bean sets off on a series of misadventures and decides to catalogue his adventure with his newly won hand camera. When he first arrives in France, Bean takes the wrong taxi cab and finds himself far away from the train station he had hoped to arrive at. He then walks a long journey in a very straight line to reach the train station, but finds himself with some time to spare and ends up in a French restaurant where he accidentally orders a seafood platter. The eating of the platter proves too much for Bean and he leaves the restaurant in a hurry.

His desire to film his vacation to the beach of Cannes finds Bean asking a Russian gentleman Emil Dachevsky (Karel Roden) to videotape Bean boarding the train to Cannes. Bean is dissatisfied with the shots and has Emil try a number of times. This results in Emil missing the train, but Bean making the final boarding call. Unfortunately, Emil´s son Stepan (Max Baldry) is on the train and finds himself separated from his ´Papa´ and Emil tells Stepan to get off at the next stop. Bean tries to make nice with the young boy for causing his father to miss the train, but Stepan takes his camera and Bean ends up getting off at the next stop to regain his camcorder. He leaves his luggage on the train and is unable to get back on the train. When the next train passes, Emil is showing a sign with a phone number to call. Misfortune strikes again as Emil had the final two numbers covered up. Bean writes down all one hundred possible combinations of the phone number and begins dialing them to contact Emil for Stepan.

The film then becomes a road movie between Bean and Stepan as they try to find transportation to Cannes or more coinage to try and call more of the hundred numbers and locate the boy´s father. After a bus mishap, Bean and Stepan are separated. During this time, Bean loses his wallet and train ticket. He is left with only the camera and his passport. Along the way they also make a mess of a commercial being filmed by director Carson Clay (Willem Dafoe). Bean becomes an extra and his quickly fired for his antics involving the camera. This situation does introduce Mr. Bean to the pretty young French actress Sabine (Emma de Caunes). Some time after being fired from the shoot, Bean is found hitchhiking by Sabine and they set off together to reach Cannes. Bean is more enamored by the Mini than by the gorgeous young woman.

Bean and Stepan are eventually reunited, but the entire French police are after them because they believe Bean has kidnapped Stepan. It is realized that Emil is a film judge for the Cannes Film Festival and Sabine is on her way to the premiere of a Carson Clay film where she had a bit part. Sabine agrees to take Bean to Cannes, but will reunite Stepan with her father. At the premiere, Bean is chased by security, but manages to reunite the boy and his father. He also destroys Clay´s boring picture, but the audience appreciates and applauds the footage from Bean´s hand camera. The film ends with Bean finding his beach, Stepan finding his father and Clay finding a new film technique.

I personally find Rowan Atkinson´s physical humor tiring after a while. The actor barely has a speaking part and any semblance of dialogue is replaced with undecipherable grunts and under-breath mutterings that barely form sentences. "Mr. Bean´s Holiday" is entirely a physical comedy film and the actor´s rubbery face and ability to kick very high has a way of delighting younger audiences, but I must reiterate that it wore quickly for this viewer. Atkinson certainly has a talent with using his body and face to be silly and humorous. He has a methodology all his own that is signature to the character. Under the actor´s performance, Bean is perhaps the biggest moron to ever grace the big screen. Credit surely must be given to the intelligent Atkinson for bringing such an imbecilic person to life. Perhaps my gripe with the film is that a character as unintelligent and completely unable to hold even the slightest conversation just isn´t that terribly funny to somebody that grew up watching old "Three Stooges" shows.

They story does have some merit. The British funnyman is injected into the French culture and a couple of the show´s funnier moments deals with Bean´s alien adventure across a nation where they aren´t always fond of Englishmen. Many scenes feature Bean in wide open spaces where the actor´s physical blend of comedy must stand on its own and those that are fond of the Bean character are sure to be delighted by this film´s showcasing of the funnyman. Bean is a fish out of water no matter where the character travels, but he is furthest out of his element in the foreign land just across the English channel. The road tale told between Bean and the more intelligent and mature Stepan is the strongest part of the story, but it is cut short to allow Bean to re-enter the French cities and countryside to do his own thing. When Sabine enters the fray, the Stepan character is nearly forgotten.

The supporting cast of "Mr. Bean´s Holiday" do a commendable job of delivering dialogue and playing it straight to Atkinson´s comedy routine. Willem Dafoe is a benefit to any film he is involved with, save "Speed 2: Cruise Control." He adds a respectable element to the film and is very believable as a conceited filmmaker. Young Max Baldry does a great job as Stepan in the film. It is never easy for child actors, but I can imagine he had a difficult time of keeping a straight face when working with Atkinson. Baldry manages a straight face during the entire film and is a likeable young man onscreen. My favorite member of the supporting cast was Emma de Caunes. The French actress is a lovely lady and the veteran French actress handles herself with poise during the hilarity that surrounds her. She exudes a flirting sexuality that never feels wrongly placed in the seat beside Atkinson as they travel across France in a Mini. Although I did not particularly enjoy the humor of the film, there is no denying that it is a well-acted picture.