BEAN the Movie
If you are already a fan of Mr. Bean and haven’t yet seen this movie, run to the store!! Watch the disaster-man come to America…
A famous American painting is bought from the Brits and goes back to the United States. The British art museum is asked to send a renown art scholar who will deliver a speech during the celebration of the masterpiece return. They decide to send Bean. He is no scholar, of course, he’s just a watchman they wish they could fire; but they can’t, so they are happy to get rid of him at least for a couple of months by sending him to the States.
Rowan Atkinson is, as usual, excellent. He knows his character inside out and knows exactly what makes him so hilarious. Every move of an eyebrow or a facial muscle is calculated to precision and comes in that one exact moment when it is needed. The performance is smooth and consistent throughout. Mr. Bean is a weirdo, but he is a weirdo you can understand. You can actually follow his inner logic and see why he is doing this or that.
He does not like to ask for help, for example, and prefers to find a way out of trouble on his own, that’s why he won’t tell anyone that he happened to splash some water on his pants and needs to dry them. Instead, he will try to “discreetly” use the hand-dryer in the bathroom, and later an office fan, to dry his wet pants. This same “anything-but-asking-for-help” attitude is to blame for the major disaster of the movie involving the priceless painting.
Another flawless performance comes from Peter MacNicol who plays David Langley, an American art expert and Mr. Bean’s baffled host in California. When Mr. Langley opens his home for the supposed British scholar, he expects “a man of such caliber” to be eccentric, but not that eccentric.
He finds it hard to explain to his wife why their guest’s underwear needs to be warmed up in the microwave, and soon faces a choice: either Dr. Bean goes, or his wife and children are leaving. Mr. Langley’s slow realization that something is fishy with the British art genius is fun to watch; unfortunately, it is too late when he finally builds enough courage to ask two big questions: “Are you really a Doctor?” and “Do you know anything about art?…”
Some of Mr. Bean’s antics in this movie are taken from the TV series (the famous Turkey On The Head and the Paper Bag Explosion On The Airplane), but there are many new ones you will enjoy. The episode of Mr. Bean’s arrival to the airport is priceless, as well as his “performance” in front of the mirror-wall at the police station. I highly recommend this movie to any Bean lover.
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