Starring
Rowan Atkinson
Peter MacNicol
Pamela Reed
Directed by Mel
Smith
When this movie
came out, my sister and I were so eager to see it because we were huge fans of
the Mr. Bean series, with Rowan Atkinson as the iconic lead character. We had
watched the TV episodes numerous times and never got tired of his slapstick
comedy, delivered in short, hilarious 10–15 minute stories. Naturally, we had
high expectations for this movie, which placed Mr. Bean in an American setting.
Unfortunately, it didn’t live up to those expectations.
The movie felt
too long, and dealing with both Bean and the Langley family felt like one
slapstick comedic scene too many. The second Bean movie (Mr. Bean’s Holiday),
released ten years later, did a better job of balancing the focus by shifting
away from Bean occasionally to explore other characters. In this first film,
Rowan Atkinson had to carry the entire movie, and many of the gags were
recycled from the TV series. My sister and I were already familiar with them,
so the novelty was gone. Honestly, the fact that we made it to the end of the
film was a miracle. After laughing initially, we got bored and started
wondering when it was going to end.
The plot begins
at a London art gallery where Bean works as a security guard. His well-meaning
but clumsy and destructive nature makes him unpopular with his coworkers. The
gallery’s managers despise him for being a slacker, but they can’t fire him
because the chairman insists on keeping him employed.
When an American
philanthropist purchases a painting from the gallery, someone has to deliver it
to the U.S. Seizing the opportunity to get rid of him, the managers nominate
Bean and craft a fake profile to send him off. Once in America, Bean stays with
the Langley family and quickly turns their lives upside down with his chaotic
antics. His only task is to present the painting, but he manages to turn that
into a disaster as well, nearly ruining the lives of the Langleys in the
process.
The movie wasn’t
a critical hit, but audiences flocked to see it, making it a box office
success. Still, it’s the kind of movie you can only watch once. The slapstick
comedy gets tiresome quickly, and you’ll likely wish it were shorter.
I do not know if
American audience are familiar with the character, but I see this movie as an
attempt to break into the American household.
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