May 03, 2007 06:05 PM
3203 Views
(Updated May 03, 2007 07:52 PM)
Disaster has a passport.
Movie **Mr. Bean's Holiday
The Plot(imdb.com)
Mr. Bean(ROWAN ATKINSON) enters a church raffle and wins a vacation trip to France as well as a camcorder. After boarding a Eurostar train and arriving in Paris, the French language proves a barrier for Bean, as he struggles to get across the city to catch a train to the south of France from the Gare de Lyon. Taking time to order a meal, he finds the consumption of a seafood platter to be a challenge.
Just before catching his train, he asks Emil, a Russian film director on his way to be a judge at the Cannes Film festival to use his camcorder to record his boarding, but accidentally causes Emil being left behind at the station. Bean attempts to cheer up the director's son Stepan(MAX BALDRY) as the train continues south but matters are made more hectic by the fact that Emil has reported his son to have been kidnapped and Bean losing his wallet and essential travel documents at a pay phone where he and Stepan attempt to contact Emil.
Heading in the direction of Cannes, Bean finds himself in the cast and disrupting the flow of a commercial being shot by the egotistical director Carson Clay(WILLEM DAFOE). He and Stepan finally hitch a ride with the young and vivacious actress Sabine(EMMA De CAUNES) who is heading to Cannnes to attend the premiere of Clay's film, in which she appears. After Bean sneaks into the show, his camcorder images are destined to enliven the proceedings.
My Review
Aaahh, my favorite beanpole of a man!
To be approximately precise(weirdo am I), I saw the first Bean show on rented video 16 years ago. Boy, I never experienced such stomach-churning laughter before. One way to break the ice between strangers is to show them some tapes of Mr. Bean classics. Before the last reel gets over, the people would probably be falling on each other unable to control their laughs and whacking each other's backs.
Coming back to the movie(see how Mr. Bean distracts me), its an entertaining TP(time-pass) however.for those die-hard Mr. Bean fans the movie does not match up to the class TV shows. For the others, this 90 min laugh riot is a perfect stress reliever for the family, couples, friends or even a loner who's on his last peg of rum:)
Another barometer to check a movie's success~ I reached the movie hall late by 20 mins(sin!) and unpardonably, had the booked tickets of my 2 friends with me too.The only reason they stopped short of slaying me in full public view is because they enjoyed whatever was left of the movie to watch and forgot about my crime.
Talking about the script? Except for a riddiculously unbelievable scene( a bus running over our comic hero), I accepted the story wholeheartedly. Any movie's tough challenge is it's beginning and the end. I dunno about the beginning of the movie as I wuz late but talking about the end.it was quite damp. We, the audience, expected another truly hilarious scene to wrap up the movie.
However don't let my negative views dampen your spirit to watch this entertainer.
The best scene to watch out for~ the screening of director Carson Clay's "Cannes-worthy" movie in a theatre hall and how our Mr Bean's camcorder changes the climax of the director's movie! Wonderful.
Rowan Atkinson, as usual, is the life of the movie. He is 50+ yet is as energetic as a guy in late 20's. Comedy does that to you! He, I think, is an ideal ambassador for the age old saying "Laughter is the best medicine ".
The others in the cast like Willem Dafoe (Spiderman villain) as the egomaniac director Carson Clay and beautiful actress Emma de Caunes as the budding actress Sabine whose career is saved by Mr. Bean(accidentally ofcourse) make an endearing impact. Also cool was child actor Max Baldry as Stepan, the lost child who ends up as Mr. Bean's unfotunate'victim'.
Actor Willem, surprisingly, has a good flair for comedy. His'performance' in his own'directed', 'produced' and'written' video(best scene as I mentioned above) for Cannes festival had the audience in splits. Thank God for that or Mr. Bean's Holiday was in the danger of being a Bean-only show. Willem successfuly distracts the audience attention from Mr. Bean and still entertains them.
Some Trivia(imdb.com)
~ Rowan Atkinson announced that this movie would be the last story of the character, Mr. Bean.
~ This movie contains references to the movie Dumb & Dumber. The song "Crash", Mr Bean hitch hiking on a desert road, then being picked up on a mini motorbike, as well as falling asleep at the wheel.
Director -Steve Bendelack
Year- 2007
Starring - Rowan Atkinson, Emma de Caunes, Max Baldry, Willem Dafoe
Verdict~ Why is Mr. Bean hugely popular worldwide? For the simple reason that anyone(irrespective of language) can watch his shows and enjoy them.
Remember, the movie may not be as enjoyable as his TV shows but what better way to relax from career & home tantrums? Take a ticket and bring your grumpy momma along too :)
