If you are familiar with the actor and comedian Rowan Atkinson's character creation Mr Bean and the British comedy series of the same name, then you'll know exactly what to expect from "Bean - The Ultimate Disaster Movie"… his full-length film debut.
It took three years for Mr Bean's big screen foray to be made and was written by Rowan Atkinson, Richard Curtis and Robin Driscoll. Directed by Mel Smith, Mr Bean gets up to his usual disastrous antics as this geeky absurd character ventures to Hollywood. The film opens with oddball Mr Bean sleeping on the job. He works at the National Gallery in London and his personal job description is 'to sit in the corner and look at the paintings'. At a board meeting, the members propose to sack Mr Bean until the chairman sings his praise. It seems only right then that he is selected for a three month assignment at the Grierson Art Gallery in Los Angeles where the famous 'Whistler's Mother' painting is to be re-housed. Keeping his job but out of the country.
And
so it is… excentric Mr Bean is sent to LA (humerous aeroplane scene included!) as a British Scholar representative to unveil the American painting being bought using a donation of $50 million from General Newton (Burt Reynolds) an American philanthropist.
In LA Mr Bean stays with the Grierson Gallery's curator David Langly (Peter MacNichol) and his wife, Alison (Pamela Reed). Later a love-hate relationship develops between David and Alison's two children, Jennifer and Kevin (Tricia Vessey and Andrew Lawrence) and their unconventional guest mr Bean.
Mr Bean usually gets by without too much speech earning him a likening to famous silent movie starts of the past. However, I was pleased to see that while most of the gags are indeed silent and in keeping with the shorter comedy sketches, Mr Bean does manage to string some sentences together… albeit cringe worthy as he gets himself into bother with even these. Also I laughed out loud to the drunken scene with Mr Bean and David singing "Yesterday" as they meandered down the street. This follows David drowning his sorrows when his wife gives him the ultimatum "her and the children or Mr Bean". I found myself desperate and at the same time dreading the next Bean-induced disaster.
What I particularly liked about the film was the way in which it exposed Mr Bean, or Dr Bean as he allows the LA Gallery staff to believe, as a bit of a rebel and actually quite happy to be the loner. In the short stories of Mr Bean he is irritating, weird and freakish but the film strives to get the audience on his side for once. Mr Bean is raised to full-fledged hero status as he saves the day by being the guest of honour at the unveiling of Whistler's Mother, albeit after fixing or should I say remedying the damage to the original that he caused. He even manages to say some inspiring words to the audience viewing the painting when called upon to give his live lecture on the artwork.
Peter MacNichol's facial expressions describe perfectly an onlookers thoughts and complement the rubber faced Mr Bean. MacNichol's holds David on a par with Bean, some feat you'll agree.
The film was released in 1997 so you can get the DVD quite cheaply now… £4.23 (or video £5.99) from Amazon. It was slated by the critics at the time but the public, the greatest critics of all, spoke up and Mr Bean The Ultimate Disaster Movie beat Batman & Robin at the box office! The DVD's price reflects the additional feature… yes just one, The Trailer.
The copy I have has the following standard features Aspect Ratio: 16:9 Wide Screen Available Audio Tracks: Dolby Digital 5.1 Main Language: English Dubbed Language(s): German Sub Titles: Dutch, German Hearing Impaired: English
The film itself is a wacky comedy which can be enjoyed by all the family but if you aren't familiar with this ridiculously funny character I would recommend watching some of his earlier sketches before setting out to view the whole film. The DVD lacks content but since it's priced fairly I can't complain too much.
How helpful would this review be to a person making a buying decision? Rating guidelines
Comedy - Director: Richard Boden, Mandie Fletcher, Martin Shardlow - Original Language: English - Classification: 15 years and over - Starring: Hugh Laurie, Miranda Richardson, Stephen Fry, Brian Blessed, Tim McInnerny, Tony Robinson, Rowan Atkinson
Comedy - Original Language: English - Classification: 12 years and over - Starring: Tessa Peake-Jones, Buster Merryfield, David Jason, Nicholas Lyndhurst
A fine review and I like Rowan Atkinson too, after all som,eone who drives an Aston rather than a Ferrari has to have good taste. However Mr Bean I just find so cringesomely embarrasing, to the point that I can't watch it! Reading the comments below it looks as though you either love or hate Bean, one of those things no middle ground. R.
jacpuss 08.07.2005 01:24
i love rowan attkinson ever since he was on "Not the nine o'clock news", your probably too young to remember it! and this film was great i loved it,and the boys love him in Mr Bean,old rubber face himself! great review .lol jacquie xxxxxx
bistro 05.07.2005 15:22
My son is a great fan of Mr. Bean, sadly I'm not, but a great review nonetheless. Mandy.x
Translating Rowan Atkinson's Mr Bean character from British television to the big screen ... more
takes a bit of a toll, but there are some hilarious sequences in this popular comedy. The eponymous Bean, a boy-man twit with a knack for getting into difficult bi...
Postage & Packaging: £1.21 Availability: Usually dispatched within 1-2 business days...
Translating Rowan Atkinson's Mr Bean character from British television to the big screen ... more
takes a bit of a toll, but there are some hilarious sequences in this popular comedy. The eponymous Bean, a boy-man twit with a knack for getting into difficult bi...
Postage & Packaging: Free! Availability: Usually dispatched within 24 hours...
When the Royal National Gallery of London is asked to send their finest scholar to oversee ... more
the unveiling of Whistler's Mother in California they send their most inept and detested employee in a desperate attempt to get him out of their lives. That em...
Postage & Packaging: £0.00 Availability: 3-5 working days
When the Royal National Gallery of London is asked to send their finest scholar to oversee ... more
the unveiling of Whistler's Mother in California, they send their most inept and detested employee, in a desperate attempt to get him out of their lives. That em...
![Bean - The Ultimate Disaster Movie [DVD] [1997]](http://picnicb.ciao.com/uk/78546253.jpg "Bean - The Ultimate Disaster Movie [DVD] [1997]")
May 26th, 2005
(Jun 10th, 2005)
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