Dear J-
Mr. Bean’s been in two movies; if like me you were ready to write him off after the first (way back in 1997!) or even after the uneven Johnny English, a thinly disguised version of the same bumblingly ill-natured idiot, rest assured that the 2007 movie Mr. Bean’s Holiday brings back the Bean you’re thoroughly familiar with from the television series. Of course, if you believe he’s some sort of odd man-child who merely mugs his way via horrible faces through scenes without much thought, this isn’t the movie for you.
In his own way, Rowan Atkinson proves to be as gifted in physical comedy as, say, Jackie Chan — aside from the plastic face, there are several moments of sheer genius — some revolving around his single-mindedness in establishing a course and sticking to it, some relating to how (badly) he relates to other people. He exhibits a decided lack of social skills, but the real trick is in what it forces other people to do in response. What do we do when confronted with someone — something — so obviously alien to our own experience? What do we choose to do, knowing that the other person isn’t going to know or possibly even care?
Most of the film students who turned critics drag out M. Hulot’s Holiday as a point of (admittedly superior) comparison. Yes, Tati is a comic master and yes, there are several parallels you can draw, most notably the title and mostly silent characters, but this newer film can stand on its own, knowing that it’s not a remake, but rather a reinterpretation of how our modern lives have changed. I enjoyed it.
Mike
