Bean (Rowan Atkinson) 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, but can't because the chairman of the gallery's board defends him. They send him to the U.S., to the small Los Angeles art gallery instead, where he'll have to officiate at the opening of the greatest U.S. picture ever (called "Whistler's Mother").
The soundtrack album contains "(I Want To Be) Elected" by Alice Cooper, as sung by Bruce Dickinson. Rowan Atkinson appears in the song, making comments throughout as Mr. Bean, who is running for British Prime Minister. His lines contain many references to Atkinson's series Blackadder the Third (1987). For example, Vincent Hanna appears reading off the votes, like he did on the first episode of Black Adder the Third (1987). Like in that episode, all of the parties listed off "no votes" until Atkinson's, who received all of the votes (so Mr. Bean gets elected in the song). Also, Bean's speech starts off "Unaccustomed as I am to public speaking..." like Prince George's did in the episode "Sense and Senility". See more »
Goofs
The painting around which the film revolves is referred to universally as "Arrangement in Grey and Black, Portrait Of The Artist's Mother" by art galleries (the first part being Whistler's original title for the painting), not "Portrait of Whistler's Mother". See more »
After the in-credit Working Title Films logo, Bean appears on the screen: "Yes, I normally stay to the end as well," followed by some more remarks to the leaving audience. See more »
Alternate Versions
Version shown on cable in the People's Republic of China (April, 1999) are uncut save for the scenes of Bean experimenting with "giving the finger" to people on the streets of LA. All scenes of him giving this gesture are cut from the film, an edit all the more perplexing as one of these scenes is shown in an advert for the movie. See more »
Walking On Sunshine
Written by Kimberley Rew
Performed by Katrina & The Waves (as Katrina and the Waves)
Courtesy of Capitol Records
Under license from EMI Capitol Music Special Markets See more »
This is one of the funniest movies I've ever seen, and in my opinion it is among the ranks of the legendary Monty Python.
"Bean" is about the infamous Mr.Bean, a lazy buffoon who manages to cause problems in even the simplest of tasks. In this movie, he works at an Art Gallery and the management desperately want to get rid of him. Rather than fire him, they send him to Los Angeles to unveil the painting, "Whistler's Mother". An American named David Langley allows Mr.Bean to stay in his house during his visit against the will of his family. This turns out to be a huge mistake.
This movie is roll-out-of-your-chair-laughing funny. Rowan Atkinson's acting is beyond excellent, and all of the other characters are good as well.
The only thing I can find to nitpick about this movie is that there is not a very strong plot. The movie is basically a line of connected humor skits. I personally do not mind this too much, but if you are looking for a movie with a story that can be made into a book, look elsewhere.
If you enjoyed the Mr.Bean series and like "disaster" movies, this is the perfect movie for you!
61 of 78 people found this review helpful.
Was this review helpful to you?
| Report this
This is one of the funniest movies I've ever seen, and in my opinion it is among the ranks of the legendary Monty Python.
"Bean" is about the infamous Mr.Bean, a lazy buffoon who manages to cause problems in even the simplest of tasks. In this movie, he works at an Art Gallery and the management desperately want to get rid of him. Rather than fire him, they send him to Los Angeles to unveil the painting, "Whistler's Mother". An American named David Langley allows Mr.Bean to stay in his house during his visit against the will of his family. This turns out to be a huge mistake.
This movie is roll-out-of-your-chair-laughing funny. Rowan Atkinson's acting is beyond excellent, and all of the other characters are good as well.
The only thing I can find to nitpick about this movie is that there is not a very strong plot. The movie is basically a line of connected humor skits. I personally do not mind this too much, but if you are looking for a movie with a story that can be made into a book, look elsewhere.
If you enjoyed the Mr.Bean series and like "disaster" movies, this is the perfect movie for you!