Mr. Bean's Holiday Film Review

When people think of the Mr. Bean character they more often then not think of both the live action an animated shows of the same name and his movie. Yet not alot of people remember that the character actually had two movies with his second and so far final solo film being released almost twenty years ago and it's that's very film that I want to talk to you all about today and so then join me as I review the film that sees Mr. Bean travel to France with the film in question being called simply just "Mr. Bean's Holiday" enjoy.

The plot of this film is when the son of a famous director finds himself left alone on a train it's up to the boy and the person that boy befriends to get him back to his father safely it's just an issue that that person is Mr. Bean. Now then interms of what I personally thought / felt about the actual plot that's actually featured / presented to us in this very film well then in all honesty I in all honesty personally thought / felt that the actual plot that's actually featured / presented to us in this very film was in all honesty not that bad. Plot wise this film does seem to be pretty good as it does give the character a very in character reason to be in France in the first place with the plot on the whole being one that does feel like it would be right at home from an episode of the show however therein lies the problem as it does feel like an extended episode of the show where as the first film for all of it's problems had a plot that you could only tell in a film whereas here in this film it does feel like an extended episode of the show. This is despite the fact that the whole idea of having characters from a show go abroad for the film is a tried and tested idea and it is one that does work in this film as the whole point of Mr. Bean is to see the chaos that unfolds around him and to be fair this kind of plot does allow for that however in saying that tho the makers of this film could have chosen a much more better plot for the character as by all rights this character would never leave England even to go to France and yet that the first thing that happens in this film with none of this being helped by he fact that the films plot is all that strong as the film does take several breaks away from it's plot just to show Bean causing chaos all over France with the plot of this film also being really entertaining and as well as being really rather engaging as well in my freaking opinions anyways / at least.

Starring in this film is Rowan Atkinson as Mr. Bean , Emma De Caunes as Sabine and Maxim Baldry as Stepan Duchevsky. Also starring in this film is Jean Rochefort as The Maître d'Hôtel , Karel Roden as Emil Duchevsky , Steve Pemberton as The Vicar , Catherine Hosmalin as The Ticket Inspector , Urbain Cancelier as The Bus Driver , Stéphane Debac as The Traffic Controller , Julie Ferrier as The First AD , Lily Atkinson as Lily and Willem Dafoe as Carson Clay.

Now then interms of what I personally thought / felt about the actual acting that's actually featured / presented to us in this very film well then in all honesty I in all honesty personally thought / felt that the actual acting that's actually featured / presented to us in this very film was in all honesty not that bad. Look to be fair alot of this films actors do turn in a good performance in this film like for example both Rowan Atkinson and Willem Dafoe both of whom are really good in this film and do get alot of the films laughs however tho this is case where the film does have just as many bad actors as it does good with a prime example of this being Emma De Caunes who just isn't believable as Sabine as while she is yes rather pretty she also feels oddly miscast in the role as this is a role that does require someone who isn't traditionally beautiful with this not being helped by the fact that there are scenes in this film where she should be screaming at the top of her lungs but because the plot needs to happen she is instead more calm when she really shouldn't have been. With of course the best actor in the whole entire film being Rowan Atkinson this is something that really shouldn't be all that surprising as he had been playing the character of Mr. Bean for quite literally decades at this point time both in live action and in animation and in his early days on the stage as well and therefor he would of course know how best to perform the character that he himself helped to create with the acting that's in this film not really being helped by the fact that this films script is just so bad as it gives none of this films actors absolutely nothing to work with interms of what it is that there respective characters personalities are even meant to be in the first place which is something that really does help to harm the overall quality of the acting that's in this very film.

Character wise this film does work really well as the film does keep the amount of characters down to just a small handful of characters. While it would be easy to talk about Mr. Bean himself as a character as he is the films most well known character it makes just as much sense to talk about the films newer characters as there's nothing new to say about Mr. Bean but there is plenty of things to say about the films new characters like for example Stepan who is meant to be this stereotypical kid character who was obviously added in there to get modern kids to watch the film but at the same time seeing him openly get upset at the thought of not seeing his father again and the fact that he does go on the offense alot of the time with him being the one to come up with some of the ways that he and Bean use to get some money is something that does make him out to be a pretty smart character. Sabine is also a character that is for the most part really well done as up until the third act the film does present her as someone who is still career focused but is also someone who is willing to stop and smell the flowers where the film does let her down tho is in the third act when she becomes so hyper career focused that she becomes less entertaining as a character to watch where as with Carson Clay he is pretty much this director who always thinks that he's making a high art film when in reality he's making the most boring film possible and the fact that he is so up himself is something that does make him an entertaining character as you know that there will be a moment in the film when karma comes back to bite him and when it does it is usually a really funny moment.

Unlike the first film which had Bean talking in full sentences alot of the time here in this film they go back to what worked on the show. By having him be this mostly silent character and only saying the odd word or two every now and then and that is something that does work as this is someone who is a silent comedy character and is perhaps the best modern silent movie comedy character out there as even tho he doesn't say alot he says so much with just his facial expressions and his body language alone with that being part of what made the character stand out so well in the nineties and while it is understandable why the first film got rid of that as they had to make the character appeal to American audiences. Yet by doing that they robbed the character and the show for that matter alot of what made him and it special in the first place as this is a character that shouldn't be speaking in full sentences and infact alot of the best most gut bustingly funny scenes in that film are when he's silent and it's just people reactions to him being this agent of chaos this is something that this films did also get right as while yes the first film is more better in the more traditional sense of the word this film is better in the sense that it stayed true to what the show was like as alot of what made the show work back then and still does indeed work to this very day is the fact that alot of it is just people standing and watching Mr. Bean cause this chaos all while being silent and when you get that right and when you keep to that core value then your going to get alot of great comedy out of it as it allows Rowan Atkinson to do what he does best and that's give you these over the top and funny facial expressions which he wasn't aloud to do alot of the time in the first film due to the fact that Mr. Bean was talking in full sentences alot of the time.

Even tho this is the last official solo film that the character appeared in he did appear in a Chinese film called "Top Funny Comedian: The Movie" in 2017. With the character appearing in things as recently as 2020 where he appeared in a series of videos to help promote measures against a certain disease all in his animated but interms of his live action form his last appearance might have been in 2017 in a comic relief sketch but the character did do a series of videos called "Handy Bean" which were being released as recently as 2020 either way it does show you the true staying power of this character as even tho he hasn't been in anything worth while since this film he does still pop up every now and again with this being something that does work well in the characters favor. Due to the fact that Rowan isn't a young man any more and this character is a very physical character as his comedy s mainly slapstick therefor it is better hat he either appears in animated form or only appears in adverts as it does mean that Rowan will get to play him for alot longer and while yes of course it would be great to see the character be brought back to life in live action be it on the small screen or on the big screen we do have to think realistically here and as was just mentioned Rowan isn't a young man any more and therefore it wouldn't make sense for us to expect him to play the character with the same vigor as he did when he was in his twenties. It is therefor a shame that this film isn't that good as while the film is a truer representation of the show it does also feel like a more sanitized product as the Mr. Bean in the show was able to get away with this more family orientated scenes and yet here in the film it is mostly kid friendly sketches. 

Look to be blunt whilst the idea of having this agent of chaos going around France unknowingly causing chaos is indeed a funny idea the film does oddly let this idea down due to the fact that the film doesn't focus all that much on the chaos being caused. As the film only spends a few minuets at the most in alot of locations with those locations feeling more like settings for a sketch then scenes in a film this is despite the fact that the film does gave ore characters in it then an episode of the show does  and yet the film doesn't take full advantage of that as while we do get to see Bean meet a few of his supporting characters from this film very early on in the film we don't get to see them by involved with any of the chaos until it's there time to be in the film. With alot of those characters just straight up disappearing from the film on the whole for a large portion of it's running time which is something that would have been fine for an episode of the show as the show does have to move along to the next sketch and therefore they can't have afford to spend alot of time on showing us alot of the chaos and in making it's ideas feel that fully fleshed out like for example we don't get to see much of Carson Clay this is despite the fact that he is a really funny character and it would have been funny seeing him and Mr. Bean interact more in the film even if it's not directly. This does have the add on effect of making this film feel alot more like a sketch show then it does a feature film as in a sketch show you do expect things to last a couple of minuets each before moving on to the next sketch and yet that's also something that happens in this film with the alot of the scenes where he is causing chaos lasting about the same length as the average sketch would do.

Now then this film has / had an exact grand total running time of exactly one hour and twenty nine minuets and thirty four seconds. Which for a film where the main audience is pretty much little kids is pretty much the exact bogstandard running time for a film like this one to have with the film even having the right amount of plot there to cover that amount of running time in the first place as this is plot that doesn't really need a longer running time in order to be told in a way that does it justice due to the fact that the film doesn't really focus on it's plot and to be fair it doesn't need to as the plot is just an excuse to get from joke to the next which is fair enough. However tho this film doesn't take full advantage of the fact that it's feature film due to the fact that it doesn't use it's running time all that wisely as the film doesn't take the time to fully develop it's plot as the film does drop it's plot alot of the time just to show us Mr. Bean going from one part of France to next and while granted this was done to fit in more jokes which is fair enough as this is a comedy film after all it also comes at the expense of having a well thought out plot which given the fact that this is a feature film is something that it could have done as it could have had scenes that are still funny but also add things to the film like by having Stepan say to Bean that it's all his fault that he's in this situation and walk off to find his own which Bean not being able to understand French would be OK with. Yet the film doesn't do this as it just gives us pointless scenes with Bean trying to get across France which yes are funny but they also add nothing to the plot with this also having the add of effect of adding nothing to the films characters as while Mr. Bean doesn't need character development due to the other shows and movies all of the characters do and yet we know just as much about them coming out of this film then we did coming in to it but I rally will admit that this film really does have some really good pacing to it tho.

So now then as this is a comedy film that really does mean that I have to actually talk about the actual comedy that's actually featured / presented to us in this very film well then in all honesty I in all honesty personally thought / felt that the actual comedy that's actually featured / presented to us n this very film was in all honesty really good. With this bein where the film is allowed to shine it's best as all of this films jokes are really funny due to the fact that the film does the kinds of jokes that could only work for the Mr. Bean character and due to that being the case Rowan himself is allowed to truly shine in these moments and be as funny as we all know that he can be with the films jokes being the best aspect of the film as much like with the show we never really know just what it is that were going to be getting next yet contrast this with the first film where alot of the best jokes where jokes that were done better in the show it really is night and night when it comes to the jokes in both films. With the best joke in the whole entire film being when Stepan and Bean are hungry and have no money and after seeing people busking in the same market as decide to try busking as a way to earn money with Bean first miming to a piano to him then dancing to "Boombastic" by Shaggy both of which fail with the only thing that succeeds in getting them the money that they needs being when Bean sings an opera with Stepan acting as a dead child which is just wonderfully over the top the funny that it does work and while the joke after this with Bean then loosing the bus ticket that he just bought with money works as well this joke works because of how unpredictable that it is with alot of the films other jokes being just as good as well in my freaking opinions anyways / at least.

Overall whilst the first Mr. Bean film is undoubtedly the better of the two films this one is one that really does get more about the show right on top of it being a really painfully funny film in it's own right it's really just a shame that this film really isn't as good as could have been as there was all of the potential there for this film be really good and be really funny as well in my freaking opinions anyways / at least. Now then i've talked bout all of the good and as well as all of the bad things that are in this very film in this very review and as such that really does mean that this very film really does earn itself a grand old score of exactly a 5.5 out of 10 from me.

Now then as for where I personally got all of the images that I personally used in this very film well then boys and girls and as well as ladies and gentlemen I personally got all of the images that I personally used in this very review from IM P Awards . Com and Google Images. With my personally preferred website to use to get images really from this very film being the really great Google Images this is really because of the fact that really all of the images that I really indeed got and really used from Google Images are all really high quality really with all of the images that really are all and of course really currently up and on the really great and the really solid Google Images really are all being really fairly high in quality and as well as them all really being fairly high in definition.