Mr. Bean was a character created many years ago for a British television show. Played by Rowan Atkinson, Bean is a quiet, simple man who only speak in monosyllables. The original show was very funny, with well written skits. As much of the show was done without any dialog, it relied on sight gags and physical comedy. Some years afterward, a film, simply titled Bean was released that had some funny material, but still did not reach the heights that the television show reached. When Mr. Bean's Holiday was released, I hoped for a return to the simplicity and humor of the original material, but I was sadly disappointed.
Rowan Atkinson does his usual best effort. The actor excels at this type of comedy, relying on funny faces and humorous noises, but his stretchy face does him little good here. The material is dry and boring. The only good thing about this film is its mercifully short length of 86 minutes. Willem Dafoe shows up as a high art film director, making fun of the type of films that are shown at the Cannes Film Festival. I will acknowledge that those art films are the total opposite of what this is. Mr. Bean's Holiday is a shallow movie with no substance whatsoever. The fictional film that Willem Dafoe shows at the festival looks infinitely more interesting than the real film that we are watching. With all the excellent films Dafoe has acted in, I can almost see him asking himself which of his agents he should fire for signing him up for this movie. Rowan Atkinson shows no shame for showing up here. I think it is time for him to move on to something a little better.
-J
