Who's in It: Rowan Atkinson, Willem Dafoe
The Basics: Mr. Bean goes to France and gets involved in all sorts of wacky, near-silent, G-rated shenanigans. None of them are especially laugh-out-loud funny, unless the very sight of Atkinson making that dumbest-person-alive face makes you crack up all by itself. In a series of vignettes that would mostly be unrelated other than that they all happen to Mr. Bean, he dumps food in a lady's purse, he rides a bike really fast, he accidentally "kidnaps" a child, he winds up at the Cannes Film Festival and much more.
What's the Deal? Most film critics claim to be completely objective, but they're not. No one is. And so here's my confession: Atkinson has never succeeded in making me laugh. Because of this, when I see that he's in a movie, I assume that I won't laugh. And then I don't. So what I'm saying is that if you think Mr. Bean is the funniest character ever created in Western Civilization, then by all means, ignore this review.
Audience That Will Probably Have a Great Time: Kids. Little kids love it when people fall down, crash into things, spill food, etc. Slapstick was probably invented with children in mind.
Francophiles and Movie Nerds Will Recognize: French character actor Jean Rochefort as the maître d' in the restaurant scene. Most Americans into French movies will know him from The Closet, The Man on the Train and Ridicule. He was also in one of my personal favorite weirdo movies of the 1960s, Qui êtes-vous, Polly Maggoo?. Not that that matters much here. But you should check out that one if you get a chance.
My Favorite Scene: When the little kid slaps Mr. Bean in the face. A lot.