
A MOVIE FOR THE WHOLE FAMILY!
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Oh Mr. Bean, what are we going to do with you? For years Rowan Atkinson's Mr. Bean character has been a worldwide sensation. You'll always hear that laughter may be the universal cure for sickness, but to find something that everyone would find funny...now THAT is the challenge! Somehow, being a man of few words, Mr. Bean has been the universal character that people all over the world love. It's not hard to see why. I always found it impressive that a character who speaks so few words (if, indeed, he speaks at all) manages to make me laugh so hard I want to bust a gut. Comparisons to Charlie Chaplin and Buster Keaton are not uncalled for. In fact, they are actually a very accurate way of describing Mr. Bean, and his new movie "Mr. Bean's Vacation." I must admit, humor is not the easiest thing to write about. Likewise, "Mr. Bean's Vacation" is not a movie I can easily describe because there isn't much to describe.
There is no story in this movie. There are some connecting events, but outside the fact that Bean wins a trip to Paris and is attempting to get a lost boy to the Cannes Film Festival, there really isn't much in terms of story. Heck, there isn't even much in terms of dialog. Unlike the previous Bean film, "Bean: The Movie," Mr. Bean has returned to being his clumsy, mumbling self. No speeches, no conversing in American slang, just Bean messing up in every sticky situation he gets himself in. There are moments when the film stalls, but there are much more laughs to be found then groans. In fact, I'd venture to say there were at least three scenes that had me laughing so hard, my stomach actually began to hurt. You know the feeling right? You start laughing. Then you continue laughing. Then you can't stop laughing.
Then you grab your stomach in pain, trying to catch your breath, but you just can't stop laughing. Yeah, "Mr. Bean's Vacation" can be like that sometimes. In a rare leap of faith, most the dialog that DOES make it's way through the movie is in French, with subtitles! This makes sense since Bean is traveling with a French boy he can't communicate with, which is the source of many of the misunderstandings in this movie that results in gags. But it's also daring because the characters must come to understand each other through their body language instead of their speech, which makes the language in this movie universal. Indeed, the few times the subtitles do show up it won't matter, because even if the kids can't read the subtitles they can read the body language, and thus they still get the joke.
Yes, it has flaws. There are moments where the film just drags, and the skits aren't sown together as flawlessly as they could be, but these points are moot. The bottom line is "Mr. Bean's Vacation" is pure comedy. Not all of it works, but most of it does. It's something the whole family can see and not be offended by. In fact, it may even be smarter then most of the big star "comedies" that we've seen released this year. It's not perfect, but if you're looking for a comedy, and especially one that you can bring your kids to, "Mr. Bean's Vacation" is a winner.
THIS MOVIE IS A RENTAL
OVERALL
6.5/10
Review ID: 10000000004751368

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