The fact that Mr. Bean is returning after a ten year disappearance also speaks to the fact that folks can't come up with a new way to show off what Mr. Atkinson can do, so they just trot out one of his best-loved old characters, similar to staging a TV "reunion" show. And we all know how entertaining those can be.

All in all, Mr. Bean's Holiday does have some good to offer, it's just not as much as I'd been hoping for. There are some chuckles to be had along the way, but not nearly as many or as frequent as you might expect. Scenes like Mr. Bean dancing for coins at a street fair or biking past professional cyclists after launching himself off of a Jeep are very funny; it's just a shame that there isn't more before and after those scenes to keep the comedy going.

I must say that cinematography-wise this is a beautiful film to watch. The colors are vibrant and the scenery is spectacular whether Bean is arriving at the beach in Cannes or hitchhiking on a flower-dotted roadside. As a contrast to the dark, gloomy, and rainy London as seen in the opening shots of the film, the rest of Bean's journey is so jam-packed with luscious colors that it occurred to me watching the movie that many of the individual frames of the film could be blown up, framed, and hung on an art gallery wall. This vibrancy of color makes for a wonderful eye-candy backdrop for the drably-colored, pale Mr. Bean to stick out in.

The fact that Mr. Bean's Holiday is being marketed on DVD as a kids' and family film (apparent from the fact that the two previews offered up on the DVD are for a VeggieTales movie and yet another direct-to-DVD Land Before Time sequel) is another example of folks not knowing what to do with Atkinson. While the film is rated G and entirely appropriate for any viewer, this does not necessarily mean that it is primarily a "family film." Are most kids going to understand the film's resonance with the 1953 French comedy Mr. Hulot's Holiday? Will parents have to explain just what the Cannes Film Festival is, and will kids get the clever, barbed parody of a "Cannes film" Willem Dafoe stars in at the Festival? Will children have nightmares once they realize that a character commits suicide onscreen while the other characters don't seem to care?

Article Author: Sombrero Grande

This writer is a member of The Masked Movie Snobs, a collective that fights a never-ending battle against bad entertainment.

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