Mr. Bean's Holiday -- What's the Matter With This Country?

This movie is packing 'em in all over the world -- but not in the good old USA which is, for some reason, beyond the reach of Mr. Bean's elastic limbs.

I include myself in the indictment, by the way. I was 20 minutes or more into this movie before my discomfort subsided to be replaced by a kind of delight I haven't felt in ages -- a child's delight in fact. And that's when I realized why most Americans just don't get Mr. Bean.

I was uncomfortable to begin with because of his wildly exaggerated gestures and expressions -- that's what I thought, anyway, I thought I was put off by what looked like a lot of gratuitous mugging and pratfalls. But when I finally let myself be lifted onto the zany plane of free-associational surreality which is Mr. Bean's native element I understood that it was not really the pratfalls and mugging that put me off at all. It was the innocence. My jaded tastes had been put off by the innocence of Mr. Bean. What a statement.

I liked early Jim Carrey after all -- Ace Ventura, Pet Detective. Comedy doesn't come any broader than that. SNL with John Belushi. Early Steve Martin, I loved that stuff. On a purely physical level, old Steve with an arrow through his head performing "King Tut" was every bit as exaggerated as Mr. Bean. And we lapped it all up and asked for more. And we got it too -- wacko antics are all over our screens (though they do go by awful fast).

So what it is it about broad physicality in American comedy that makes it so different from Mr. Bean? Easy. It's all done with a wink and nod toward you, the hipster in the audience who's in on the joke. Even the big cartoon hits -- the Shreks and the Penguins -- they all treat kids as if they were sophisticate ironists. In fact, those big cartoon hits are training kids to be sophisticated ironists. And sophisticated ironists like things to go fast. That way you don't notice how hollow they are.

If -- when -- you go see Mr. Bean's Holiday don't be thinking Jack Nicholson chews up the scenery as The Joker. Be thinking Charlie Chaplin in Limelight. It might slow you down enough to enjoy something that's sincere as well as funny.

Comments

[TheMadScientist]

Yes, well, I tend to find myself in Bean-esque situations from time to time, and one of my college roomates started calling me "Bean" after an incident that ended with me throwing a chicken pot-pie from a third story balcony into the swimming pool of our apartment complex. Did I mention that the chicken pot-pie was fully engulfed in flames? Seriously, the crust of those things is essentially soaked in grease (at least the $0.75 Banquet variety I used to buy when I was a poor student), and they flare up quite nicely.

That said, I just don't find the guy particularly funny. Nor Benny Hill, the Three Stooges, etc.

[Jonahson]

A 78 year old grandmother, who doesn't understand English, thousands of Kilometers from England away gigling and laughing away at Mr. Bean's antics. She always look forward to the next Bean comedy.
I don't know how many new America comedies will have such far reaching impact.

[chinohillster]

Ah, but there is a more ironic (although with a twist of slapstick) side of British humour: The mighty, mighty Monty Python - I find "The Spanish Inquisition", "Dead Parrot", etc sketches to be hysterically funny!

And of course, there is the skein of irony-with-tongue-firmly-in-cheek: 'Doctor Who' (and to a lesser extent, James Bond)...

[KarmaSartre]

"Rowan Atkinson Live in Belfast", especially the part where he acts out three roles at a wedding, is incredibly funny. I've never seen it, just heard the tape. A couple DVDs available on Amazon.

[cuthbertallgood]

There is a Rowan Atkinson tv special from the UK in which among other things he plays Satan welcoming various groups to Hell. It is so very funny. If you can see it, do so. Same for all the Blackadder series.
Atkinson is as good with verbal comedy as he is with the physical.
Mr Bean is pure genius. So is Mr Atkinson.

[InternationalObserver]

It's already out on DVD here, and I watched it last weekend. I didn't love it as much as my wife and 5 y.o. daughter did, but *did* get the shock of me life when I saw Willem Dafoe was in it! (He was good, and it was definitely a non-typical role for him). The comedy has more of a European flavour than British IMHO. And the french girl is HOT (for all the other dad's out there)

[speakyourmind]

Different strokes, I guess. I took my 8-year-old daughter to see this and we both wanted to walk out. It was BEYOND STUPID. It was nearly 2 hours of my life that I will never ever get back. Just awful.

[Dakotadem]

I haven't seen the movie yet but experienced pure delight at seeing the trailer before another movie recently. I've been a fan of Mr. Bean for years. Though Mr. Atkinson is always funny, I am usually disappointed when he's in movie but not "Mr. Bean". I look forward to the complete silliness, mugging, pratfalls and funny voice that is Mr. Bean!

[drblack]

Rowan Atkinson is a comic genius...Jim carey is not.
You are correct that Americans are uptight,afraid and unscientific in general...there are some exceptions.

[Jonahson]

Well Bean comedies has a more humane humour flavor in them. It is enjoyed all over the world by all ages. Mr. Bean shows his weaknesses, vuneralbility as well as his ability to improvise to get out of stcky situations. His jokes blends with the surrounding as well as the people in the set.
In a Jim Carrie comedy or Chris Tucker in Rush Hour, the jokes focus more on the individual star as they blab away incessantly and also on the exaggerated facial expression. The character they portray is very egoistic.

[frl]

i took my six year old daughter and my 83 year old grandma to see this movie today. we all LOVED it!! there was no shortage of people who appeared to feel the same. it was refreshing!!

[DavidCyrus]

I am weary now. That last comment was simply too verbose to result in absolutely no point. The 1st paragraph itself would have sufficed.

In terms of scenes, nothing beats the original series, "Bean's head in a turkey" skit.

[OtayPanky]

DavidCyrus: That last comment was simply too verbose to result in absolutely no point.

===

I couldn't agree with you more! But I was so deeply inspired by the original blog that I needed to add my contribution.

No need to thank me...really. I live to serve.

[curioustorquemada]

I thought your comment was better than the post. By the second paragraph I could see Joe Friday (Dan Ackroid) warning Bean fans as to the subversive nature of his comedy.

[OtayPanky]

When I first became aware of Mr. Bean's covert invasion into our thought processes, all I could think was how Mr. Bean's hirelings tend to fall into the mistaken belief that cultural tradition has never contributed a single thing to the advancement of knowledge or understanding, mainly because they live inside a Mr. Bean-generated illusion-world and talk only with each other.

If he wants to foster suspicion -- if not hatred -- of "outsiders", fine. Just don't make me swallow his campaigns whole, without question or quibble, while he's at it. Considering the corruption and foolishness that characterize treacherous lugs, Mr. Bean should clarify his point so people like you and me can tell what the heck he's talking about. Without clarification, Mr. Bean's indiscretions sound lofty and include some emotionally charged words but don't really seem to make any sense.

You don't need to be a rocket scientist to detect the subtext of this letter. But just in case it's too subliminal for some, let me thrust it into your face right here: My clergyman told me, "Mr. Bean's avowal that everyone who doesn't share his beliefs is a psychotic dunce deserving of death and damnation is all cant and hogwash." If you think about it you'll see his point. Mr. Bean is essentially describing a situation that does not exist. Now, I could go off on that point alone, but his older taradiddles were grumpy enough. His latest ones are definitely beyond the pale.

It's irrelevant that my allegations are 100% true. Mr. Bean distrusts my information and arguments and will forever maintain his current opinions. He is a bacillus in the incompetent gut of Trotskyism. Interestingly, he doesn't seem to care about that. We ought to lay out some ideas and interpretations that hold the potential for insight. That'll make Mr. Bean think once -- I would have said "twice" but I don't see any indication that he has previously given any thought to the matter -- before trying to force us to do things or take stands against our will.

[indypete]

Wow, dude, I thought we were discussing a silly comedy!

[OtayPanky]

indydude writes: Wow, dude, I thought we were discussing a silly comedy!

===

Wow, dude - it really IS a silly comedy!

Only an overly educated pomo fool would think it has anything to say to us about what's wrong with America.

Party on, Garth!

[flatus]

Flatey loves the Bean!

[richw23]

Sorry, the only slapstick I like that doesn't involve a wink and a nod has the Three Stooges in it, or maybe Bugs Bunny, Roadrunner and company. Anything earlier is just too dated and frankly, not sophisticated enough.

Everything about entertainment in past eras convinces me they enjoyed it because it was the best they could get. Not comedy, but even Django Reinhardt is overshadowed by the current performers of his genre.

I can't think of any comedy material that has actually endured that didn't come about since radio broadcasting, which makes it either nostalgic or amusing in its simplicity.

I don't think even Shakespeare is revered for any outright slapstick that doesn't make a wry comment somehow.