Starring
Rowan Atkinson
Emma de Caunes
Max Baldry
Willem Dafoe
Directed by
Steve Benedelack
Mr. Bean’s
Holiday is a standalone sequel to the 1997 Mr.
Bean movie. Released ten years after the first film,
the producers definitely got it right this time. It’s not that the first movie
wasn’t funny, but it felt too long. The first film
suffered from fatigue, as if the writers ran out of ideas and resorted to
back-to-back slapstick comedy for ninety minutes. That said, it was still a
financial success.
This sequel
(also a financial hit) does things better. Instead of taking Bean to America,
which in the first movie drained some of the British comedic charm, this film
is set in Europe. Mr. Bean embarks on a holiday in France, proving that some
comedies work best in an English/European setting. Like the first movie, all
the key people behind the creation of Mr. Bean were involved in the production,
story, writing, and screenplay. Of course, Rowan Atkinson returns to
brilliantly portray the title character.
What I like most
about this movie is the way the plot unfolds. There are three main storylines,
each led by one of the three central characters, and they all tie together
seamlessly.
First, we have
Mr. Bean, who wins a holiday by train to Cannes, along with a video camera and
€200 in spending money. Then, there’s Stepan (Max Baldry), a young boy Bean
inadvertently “kidnaps” after asking Stepan’s father to film him doing some of
his usual quirky antics on the train platform. Unfortunately, the father misses
the train as a result, leaving Stepan alone onboard. The father reports his son
as missing, thinking Bean has taken him.
Feeling
responsible, Bean decides to look after Stepan and reunite him with his father.
However, a series of mishaps leads to Bean losing track of Stepan and finding
himself hitchhiking. That’s where Sabine (Emma de Caunes), an aspiring actress,
enters the picture. She picks Bean up, and we learn she’s on her way to the
Cannes Film Festival, where her acting debut will be screened. Along the way,
they find Stepan, and the trio continues their journey to Cannes, with plenty
of hilarious misadventures along the way. The ending at Cannes is a
must-watch—it’s filled with chaos and humor as everything hilariously falls
into place.
One of the
highlights of the movie is the self-obsessed film producer Carson Clay (Willem
Dafoe), who creates a film entirely focused on himself. Watching his overly
pretentious movie unfold is absolutely hilarious.
This film is
laugh-out-loud funny, and even in 2020, the comedy holds up remarkably well.
I’ll definitely be watching it again later this week.
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