Tuesday, September 11, 2007

MR BEAN'S HOLIDAY - against all odds, charming!

When MR BEAN was first released I avoided it. I had never enjoyed the TV series. How could Rowan Atkinson - a man best known for verbal comedy in its highest form (BLACKADDER) r- educe himself to a near-mute buffoon making pratt-falls and getting his tie caught in elevator doors? I viewed it as a sad day in a sad business hotel when I was forced to rent MR BEAN'S HOLIDAY. But once again the cinema gods laugh at me - I actually enjoyed the film! Thankfully, the sort of weak gross out comedy featured in the trailer (snorting coffee etc) was kept to a minimum. Instead we had some really very funny physical comedy - especially in scenes where Mr Bean either dances or mimes to music. I particularly liked the O Mio Babbino interpretation. Critics can get awfully snotty about this sort of physical comedy, and clearly Bean has none of the social profundity of Charlie Chaplin. Still, in a world of cynical studio productions there has to be room for this sort of light-hearted feel-good comedy.

MR BEAN'S HOLIDAY opened in the UK in March 2007 and has since been on global release. It is released on DVD in December 2007.

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