Bean (1997)

Director:

Mel Smith

Writers:

Rowan Atkinson (characters) &
Richard Curtis (characters) ...

Release Date:

7 November 1997 (USA)

Genre:

Comedy

Tagline:

One Man. One Masterpiece. One Very Big Mistake.

Plot:

Bean works as a caretaker at Britain's formidable Royal National Gallery, and his bosses want to fire him because he sleeps at work all the time...

Plot Keywords:

Whistler's Mother | Los Angeles California | London England | Husband Wife Relationship | Friendship

Awards:

2 wins

Cast

Rowan Atkinson	...	Mr. Bean
Peter MacNicol	...	David Langley
John Mills	...	Chairman (as Sir John Mills)
Pamela Reed	...	Alison Langley
Harris Yulin	...	George Grierson
Burt Reynolds	...	General Newton
Larry Drake	...	Elmer
Danny Goldring	...	Security Buck
Johnny Galecki	...	Stingo Wheelie
Chris Ellis	...	Det. Butler
Andrew Lawrence	...	Kevin Langley
Peter Egan	...	Lord Walton
Peter Capaldi	...	Gareth
June Brown	...	Delilah
Peter James	...	Dr. Rosenblum

Also Known As:

Bean: The Movie (USA) (video box title)
Bean: The Ultimate Disaster Movie (Hong Kong: English title)
Dr. Bean (UK) (working title)

MPAA:

Rated PG-13 for moments of risque humor.

Runtime:

90 min

Country:

UK | USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

DTS | Dolby Digital

Certification:

Ireland:PG | South Korea:12 | Italy:T | Argentina:13 | Australia:PG | Canada:PG | Chile:TE | Finland:S | France:U | Germany:12 (w) | Netherlands:AL | Norway:7 | Portugal:M/12 | Singapore:PG | Spain:T | Sweden:Btl | UK:PG | USA:PG-13 (certificate #35186) | Iceland:L

Filming Locations:

Hollywood, Los Angeles, California, USA

Company:

Polygram Filmed Entertainment

Trivia:

The producers were initially looking for an unknown actor to play General Newton. But being a fan of the TV series, Burt Reynolds asked for a role and was then cast to appear as Newton.

Goofs:

Incorrectly regarded as goofs: When Bean takes off on the skateboard to "fix" the painting, the camera clearly shows his feet, and he's wearing black leather shoes. Later, when he's at the security guard station at the museum, there is a shot directly of his feet, and he is shown wearing mismatched slippers. It can be explained, as part of a joke, he would wear them so he wouldn't be heard; sneaking around the gallery.

Quotes:

David Langley: Doesn't it take, like, five hours?
Mr. Bean: ...not... necessarily

Movie Connections:

Referenced in "It Takes Two: (#2.2)" (2007)

Soundtrack:

Picture Of You

Sometimes quite funny, but still disappointing after the TV show

Despite only having fourteen episodes, "Mr. Bean" was a VERY successful TV series, developing a well-deserved reputation for its excellent visual humour! Two years after the show's demise, it was decided that it was time to bring Rowan Atkinson's character to the silver screen. The result was "Bean" (a.k.a. "Bean: The Ultimate Disaster Movie"), but unfortunately, this didn't turn out to be nearly as good as the classic TV series, and has disappointed many fans, including me.

Mr. Bean works as a caretaker for England's Royal National Gallery, and is one lousy employee (as one would probably assume), constantly sleeping on the job! Because of this, the board of directors plans to fire him, but the chairman will not permit this. The Grierson Gallery in Los Angeles has just purchased the famous "Whistler's Mother" painting, and curator David Langley has requested that the Royal National Gallery sends an art scholar to make a speech at the unveiling of the painting. Since the board of directors can't fire Bean, they see this as an opportunity to get him out of their lives, at least temporarily, so they send him, under the name, "Dr. Bean"! David Langley has no clue that Bean is not a doctor, nor is he even an art expert, and the painting could now be in danger because of him! Not only that, the presence of the Royal National Gallery's terrible employee may also threaten the future of poor David's job and family!

This movie's main problem is that it simply isn't nearly as consistently funny as the TV series. There are quite a few funny parts, I can't deny that, but I think most of them only made me smile or snicker, not enough big laughs, which there are a lot of in the show! Also, some gags from the show are repeated in this movie, and were done better the first time. These include Mr. Bean falling asleep while sitting down and gradually falling onto his knees and head (I guess that one is not as funny when nobody else is in the picture), and getting his head stuck in a turkey dinner (the main reason why it's not as funny this time is probably because the turkey isn't as big). Now, this movie did introduce some new and funny gags, but none of them can match some of the priceless ones in the show. None of the other characters really add much to the humour, and sadly, Mr. Bean cannot steadily carry it all by himself throughout the entire thing. Towards the end, I've found the film gets a bit tiring.

Overall, I wouldn't say "Bean" was not a bad first attempt to bring the world-renowned walking disaster to the silver screen, but hardly a good one, either, they certainly didn't completely pull it off. I am only one of many fans who have been disappointed by it to some degree. I certainly don't think it's something to watch for non-stop laughs over and over again, and that's pretty much how I would describe many of the short sketches, which I'm sure many would agree with. I think most fans of the show would at least find SOME laughs in this movie, but it seems that some fans hate it, so that's certainly not a guarantee.