Bean - The Ultimate Disaster Movie

To be honest, I wasn't sure that I'd enjoy this film. I like the TV series - Rowan Atkinson and Richard Curtis are true comic genii (is that a word?), but don't normally laugh out loud at it. I think it's very clever with some of the situations, but they never somehow clicked into being hysterically funny. However, the film did make me laugh quite a few times, and smile quite a few more.

The character of Mr. Bean is fleshed out a bit in the film. He's given a job - something I don't think he ever had before. He's a janitor/guard in the National Gallery, and is sent to America to unveil Whistler's Mother, which has been bought from a French gallery. The Americans are told that he's a distinguished British Doctor of Art - a deception he only picks up on after a while, and which most other people are never aware of. He's still generally unaware of the chaos he causes, but does seem to care about the consequences to a certain extent. He also makes some friends, which he never really had before.

That's the plot, really - he stays with the curator of the American Gallery, causing the curator's family to move out in disgust/fear/whatever, and causes lots of problems while he's there. The bulk of the film is taken up with the various situations that Mr. Bean gets into, and, more to the point, how he gets out of them. Ingeniously, in most cases.

Some people have complained that he speaks too much. I really didn't notice it that much. He makes a very short speech at one point, but apart from that it's generally just the occasional comment. I actually think it makes it better in the context of the film - in the series he never really needed to speak, whereas within a more complex 90 minute plot, he really does need to speak on occasion in order to make everything link.

There have also been complaints that his character changes. I don't think this is true either - by the end of the film, although he has been made aware of the negative effects his actions have had on the family, that was a one off. No-one tells him that he's consistently stupid and annoying - they just make it clear to him that he did the wrong things. I definitely got the feeling that he will be exactly the same the morning after he gets home, which is a good thing.

One or two scenes are taken directly from the series - bursting a bag on the plane, for example. However, there are one or two differences. I noticed that one scene which I was expecting to see had been cut - the scene where he drives his Mini through Harrods. I'm assuming that it would have been near the beginning, when he's late for work. I don't know why they cut it, but I think it should have been left in for two reasons. Partly because it looked funny, but also because there's a gap of sorts - he gets ready in the morning, sees he's late, makes some coffee in a "Bean" way, then the next time we see him he's at work. I just think that seeing him struggling to get into work on time would have made more sense. Still, maybe it would have made the film too long.

Go and see this film, unless you're a definite Bean despiser. In fact, give it a go even if you don't like him. It's something about having an audience around you that makes things funnier, and there are some very funny moments in this film. Very funny, very clever in places, and it makes Mr. Bean more of a person, rather than just a comedy character. This could be a bad thing, depending on your point of view, but I think it's for the best. Well worth seeing.

Updated 29/5/98 by JWES