Mr. Bean's Holiday (2007)

Mr. Bean wins a trip to Cannes where he unwittingly separates a young boy from his father and must help the two come back together. On the way he discovers France, bicycling, and true love, among other things.

Director:

Steve Bendelack

Writers:

Rowan Atkinson (character), Richard Curtis (character)

Stars:

Rowan Atkinson, Willem Dafoe, Steve Pemberton

2 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Rowan Atkinson	...	Mr. Bean
Steve Pemberton	...	Vicar
Lily Atkinson	...	Lily at the Stereo
Preston Nyman	...	Boy with Train
Sharlit Deyzac	...	Buffet Attendant
Francois Touch	...	Busker Accordion
Emma de Caunes	...	Sabine
Arsène Mosca	...	Traffic Controller (as Arsene Mosca)
Stéphane Debac	...	Traffic Controller (as Stephane Debac)
Willem Dafoe	...	Carson Clay
Philippe Spall	...	French Journalist
Jean Rochefort	...	Maitre'D
Karel Roden	...	Emil
Maxim Baldry	...	Stepan (as Max Baldry)
Pascal Jounier	...	Tipsy Man

Storyline

Mr. Bean enters a church raffle and wins a vacation trip to France as well as a camcorder. After boarding a Eurostar train and arriving in Paris, the French language proves a barrier for Bean, as he struggles to get across the city to catch a train to the south of France from the Gare de Lyon. Taking time to order a meal, he finds the consumption of a seafood platter to be a challenge. Just before catching his train, he asks Emil, a Russian film director on his way to be a judge at the Cannes Film festival to use his camcorder to record his boarding, but accidentally causes Emil being left behind at the station. Bean attempts to cheer up the director's son Stepan as the train continues south but matters are made more hectic by the fact that Emil has reported his son to have been kidnapped and Bean losing his wallet and essential travel documents at a pay phone where he and Stepan attempt to contact Emil. Heading in the direction of Cannes, Bean finds himself in the cast and disrupting...

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Plot Keywords:

lost passport | toilet | camera | video | sun | 

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Taglines:

One of these two has a brain the size of a peanut.

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Genres:

Comedy | Family

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Certificate:

G

Details

Country:

UK France Germany USA

Language:

English French Spanish Russian

Release Date:

24 August 2007 (USA)

Also Known As:

Las vacaciones de Mr. Bean

Filming Locations:

La Grande Arche de la Défense near Paris, France

Box Office

Budget:

$25,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend:

£6,440,093 (United Kingdom), 1 April 2007, Limited Release

Opening Weekend USA:

$9,889,780, 26 August 2007, Wide Release

Gross USA:

$33,302,167

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$229,736,344

Company Credits

Production Co:

Universal Pictures,StudioCanal,Motion Picture Alpha Produktionsgesellschaft

Technical Specs

Runtime:

90 min

Sound Mix:

SDDS DTS (Digital DTS Sound) Dolby Digital

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

The original idea for "Mr. Bean's Holiday" was Mr. Bean going to Australia instead of France.

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Goofs

When Sabine falls asleep in the car, her head hits the centre of the steering wheel honking the horn. The horn on the model of Mini used is not usually in the centre of the steering wheel. Rather, it is on the end of the turn indicator. However the steering wheel is an after market wheel, the boss allows for the provision of the centre horn push. Given that the Steering wheel and sunroof are both after market additions and the seats have obviously been re-trimmed from their originals, it wouldn't be beyond the realms of possibility that a centre horn push had been added.

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Quotes

[first lines]
Vicar: Three-one. Thirty-one.
Mrs. Lucas: Over here!
Vicar: Ah, Mrs. Lucas! Congratulations, Mrs. Lucas. And now to the first prize in today's raffle in aid of the "roof appeal." Thank you, Lily. Indeed. The magnificent holiday to the south of France, kindly sponsored by Dalesborough Travel Limited. So, thank you, guys. The winner of this prize will travel by Eurostar train to Paris, then catch the fast train south before spending the week on the beaches of the French Riviera. This fabulous prize also ...

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Crazy Credits

Although it doesn't really relate to anything in the movie, there is one final scene at the very end of the credits; We see Bean filming through his Video Camera and Writing Fin in the sand (which means "The End" in French) with a final look through the camera, the water comes up and washes the word anyway...just as the battery on the camera finally runs out...with the screen going black.

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Alternate Versions

Several scenes were deleted from US theatrical prints, such as Bean licking the spilled coffee in the laptop and Bean getting his tie stuck in the vending machine. These scenes were restored for the DVD.

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Connections

References Jour de Fête (1949)

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Soundtracks

Gimme Back My Tie
Written by Michel Estrade and Stefane Mellino
Performed by Les Buskers

User Reviews

Mr. Bean's March to the Sea

This hasn't quite been the great year for movies that I had hoped for, but it has certainly been a very good year for comedies, and "Mr. Bean's Vacation" is the best so far. It is also quite a daring film -- who would have imagined a G-rated, live action comedy these days, and without any fart jokes? Where's Mel Brooks when we need him? Just kidding.

This movie homage, and I can it can be argued that it is, to the great Tati films of "Mon Oncle" and "Mr. Hulot's Holiday" is Rowan Atkinson's triumphant farewell to the great character he created. It is hard to imagine any other actor living today pulling this off. Indeed, "Vacation" comes very close to being a silent film -- though I want to assure anyone wandering in from a showing of Transformers, that there are explosion. Now over at the well-known movie review site, half the critics are complaining about Mr. Bean's mugging. Half the critics at that site will apparently complain about anything. But when you have a face as brilliantly expressive as Atkinson's, gosh people, you use it. To moan about that, well, it's like going to a Fred Astaire movie and complaining about the dancing.

But more than that, every scene works, fast or slow, the pacing is perfect. Silly scenes or heartfelt, or both, the comedy never flags. It is one of those movies that long afterward you will be recalling scenes and laughing. The casting is perfect. William Defoe? Yes! There is also a lot of feeling here. I completely bought every one of the characters and their relationships. That is great comic writing.

It also has one of the best endings of any movies out there. For some reason, contemporary films are having a terribly difficult time with coming up with a satisfactory ending. Not "Mr. Bean's Vacation." It has an astonishingly goofy conclusion, one that Mel Brooks at the top of his form would have had a hard time equaling.

I cannot recommend this movie enough, though I wish it had been longer. Take your family to see it -- it will be a long time before anyone can say that again about a contemporary comedy.