Scan and Pan
Wednesday, August 29, 2007
Mr. Bean's Holiday
Mr. Bean (Rowan Atkinson) wins a holiday in Cannes and a video camera at a church raffle. After he inadvertently causes Russian film critic Emil Dachevsky (Karel Roden) to miss the train from Paris to Cannes, he finds the man's son Stepan (Max Baldry) alone on the train and, realizing his mistake, decides he must see the boy safely to Cannes to be reunited with his father.
Director Steve Bendelack (The League of Gentlemen's Apocalypse) and writers Robin Driscoll (Bean), Hamish McColl, and Simon McBurney start out on unsure footing. The first two acts of the film are very hit and miss as they struggle to find the right tone, while many of the gags are stale and predictable. When they finally settle on a whimsical tone in the third act, the film hits a more confident stride and the gags improve. There's even some sharp satire on display when the Cannes Film Festival is parodied, but it's too little, too late.
I'm a fan of Mr. Bean, but I found this film unsatisfying for what's supposedly the character's final bow. There was only intermittent laughter in the cinema where I saw it, which is never a good sign for a comedy. The technical aspects of the film are competent but nothing more, although music supervisor Nick Angel (Smokin' Aces) chooses a good selection of songs to move the story along.
The cast is better than the script. Atkinson is once again in fine form as Mr. Bean, his skill as a physical comedian shining through even when faced with an inferior script. The winsome Baldry as Stepan comes close to stealing several scenes from Atkinson. Roden doesn't have many scenes as the boy's father, but his performance is solid enough. Willem Dafoe is hilarious as a self-absorbed American film director presenting his new film at Cannes. Emma de Caunes is delightful as an actress who helps the clueless Mr. Bean get to Cannes. Jean Rochefort is funny in a small role as a maitre d'. Atkinson's daughter Lily has a cameo as the girl operating the stereo at the church function at the beginning of the film.
Mr. Bean's Holiday owes an obvious debt to Jacques Tati's Les Vacances de Monsieur Hulot (Mr. Hulot's Holiday), but if you're going to take your inspiration from a film that's considered a classic, you need to present more than just a decent third act if you want to succeed. If this is really Atkinson's final outing as Mr. Bean, it's a shame to see him go out with something decidedly less than a bang.
[2.5 out of 5 stars]
The bumbling, mumbling Mr. Bean returns for another adventure, but I'm sorry to report that this one is a disappointment. Even for devoted fans it's a tough slog to get to the good stuff.
Mr. Bean (Rowan Atkinson) wins a holiday in Cannes and a video camera at a church raffle. After he inadvertently causes Russian film critic Emil Dachevsky (Karel Roden) to miss the train from Paris to Cannes, he finds the man's son Stepan (Max Baldry) alone on the train and, realizing his mistake, decides he must see the boy safely to Cannes to be reunited with his father.
Director Steve Bendelack (The League of Gentlemen's Apocalypse) and writers Robin Driscoll (Bean), Hamish McColl, and Simon McBurney start out on unsure footing. The first two acts of the film are very hit and miss as they struggle to find the right tone, while many of the gags are stale and predictable. When they finally settle on a whimsical tone in the third act, the film hits a more confident stride and the gags improve. There's even some sharp satire on display when the Cannes Film Festival is parodied, but it's too little, too late.
I'm a fan of Mr. Bean, but I found this film unsatisfying for what's supposedly the character's final bow. There was only intermittent laughter in the cinema where I saw it, which is never a good sign for a comedy. The technical aspects of the film are competent but nothing more, although music supervisor Nick Angel (Smokin' Aces) chooses a good selection of songs to move the story along.
The cast is better than the script. Atkinson is once again in fine form as Mr. Bean, his skill as a physical comedian shining through even when faced with an inferior script. The winsome Baldry as Stepan comes close to stealing several scenes from Atkinson. Roden doesn't have many scenes as the boy's father, but his performance is solid enough. Willem Dafoe is hilarious as a self-absorbed American film director presenting his new film at Cannes. Emma de Caunes is delightful as an actress who helps the clueless Mr. Bean get to Cannes. Jean Rochefort is funny in a small role as a maitre d'. Atkinson's daughter Lily has a cameo as the girl operating the stereo at the church function at the beginning of the film.
Mr. Bean's Holiday owes an obvious debt to Jacques Tati's Les Vacances de Monsieur Hulot (Mr. Hulot's Holiday), but if you're going to take your inspiration from a film that's considered a classic, you need to present more than just a decent third act if you want to succeed. If this is really Atkinson's final outing as Mr. Bean, it's a shame to see him go out with something decidedly less than a bang.
[2.5 out of 5 stars]
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