Bean (film)
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Mr. Bean | |
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 Bean film poster |
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| Directed by | Mel Smith |
| Produced by | Rowan Atkinson Peter Bennet-Jones Tim Bevan Richard Curtis Eric Fellner Rebecca O'Brien |
| Written by | Rowan Atkinson Richard Curtis Robin Driscoll |
| Starring | Rowan Atkinson, Peter MacNicol, Burt Reynolds, Pamela Reed, Richard Gant |
| Music by | Howard Goodall |
| Cinematography | Francis Kenny |
| Distributed by | PolyGram Filmed Entertainment (now Universal Studios) Gramercy Pictures |
| Release date(s) | 17 October 1997 (USA) |
| Running time | 90 min. |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Language | English |
| Budget | $18 million |
| Followed by | Mr. Bean's Holiday |
| Allmovie profile | |
| IMDb profile | |
Bean is a 1997 feature film based on the television series Mr. Bean. It stars Rowan Atkinson in the title role and Peter MacNicol. It was directed by Mel Smith, with whom Atkinson had previously worked on Not the Nine O'Clock News. The film re-used many of the ideas from the original television series, although it was set mainly in California.
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[edit] Plot
Mr. Bean, a hopeless caretaker at the "Royal National Gallery", London, is sent by his employers, who wish to get rid of him, to America under the pseudonym of "Dr. Bean" to oversee the transfer of Whistler's Mother to a Los Angeles art gallery. Once at the airport, he is surprised to see policemen with guns and pretends he himself has one. He ends up being arrested by Lieutenant Brutus.
Once released, he meets David Langley, an employee of the Grierson art gallery, and David's family, with whom Bean is to stay for his visit. Despite winning the affection of David's son (played by Andrew Lawrence), David's wife is hostile about having to look after him, while David's rebellious teenage daughter finds Bean "ugly as Meat Loaf's butt". His wife later leaves after Bean breaks a family heirloom while fiddling with a CD player.
In his wife's absence, David decides to take Bean on a tour of the Los Angeles art galleries. However, Bean decides that he would rather go to Pacific Park. Here, Bean and David go on a motion simulator ride. Having modified the ride to make it more exciting, Bean is swiftly arrested again by Brutus. Back at home, Bean's attempt to cook a turkey for David's boss fails when the microwave explodes, spraying turkey flesh all over the kitchen. Afterwards, David asks Bean simple questions about art and finds that he is not a doctor after all.
Once the painting arrives at the gallery, Bean is given a few minutes alone to study it for his grand "speech" at the official revealing ceremony. However, whilst dusting the frame, Bean sneezes on the painting and wipes it with a handkerchief, not knowing that it is covered in blue ink. Terrified, Bean takes it to the caretaker's cupboard to get some agent by which to remove the ink. Unfortunately, he uses lacquer thinner, which also removes the painted face from the painting. Bean attempts to patch it up with an extremely unconvincing cartoon face. On seeing it, David Langley is horrified and hides the painting in a metallic safe. Fearing he will lose his job and possibly face criminal proceedings for the vandalisation of Whistler's Mother, David and Bean drown their sorrows with alcohol.
During the night, Mr. Bean hatches a plan to restore the painting. He gathers a few items from the house and makes his way to the gallery. He distracts the only security guard on duty and exchanges the painting for a poster version of itself. At the unveiling the next day, David is shocked to find the painting restored and Bean is left to make an unconventional, impromptu, but well-received speech about the painting's significance.
After the unveiling, Lieutenant Brutus finds David (who initially imagines that he has discovered the truth) and informs him that his daughter, Jennifer, has been involved in a motorcycle accident and is in intensive care. David is given a police escort to the hospital, although Brutus stops on the way after seeing a man with a gun.
Due to a mix-up at the hospital, Bean is mistaken for a doctor (he is still wearing his "Doctor Bean" name tag from the gallery) and pushed into an operating theatre containing Brutus, who has been shot. While the other doctors and nurses are distracted, Bean unconventionally retrieves the bullet and saves him. Bean is again mistaken for a doctor, this time by David who pulls him in to see Jennifer, who is unconscious. Bean is unsure what to do and starts playing about with a defibrillator, managing to electrocute himself but bringing Jennifer her back to consciousness. Still not recognizing him as Bean, they stop him and tell him that they will offer him anything. Bean then pulls down his face mask and asks if he can stay for another week.
After another week in Los Angeles with the Langleys, Bean goes home. At the end of the movie, Bean is back in his London flat, and is shown to have taken the original Whistler's Mother home with him, still having the cartoon face he drew on it. The credits close with Mr. Bean walking into the viewing area and breaking the fourth wall: "Yes, I normally stay to the end as well...bye.".
[edit] Cast
- Rowan Atkinson as Mr. Bean
- Peter MacNicol as David Langley
- John Mills as Chairman
- Pamela Reed as Alison Langley
- Harris Yulin as George Grierson
- Burt Reynolds as General Newton
- Larry Drake as Elmer
- Sandra Oh as Bernice Schimmel
- Danny Goldring as Security Buck
- Johnny Galecki as Stingo Wheelie
- Chris Ellis as Detective Butler
- Andrew Lawrence as Kevin Langley
- Peter Egan as Lord Walton
- Peter Capaldi as Gareth
- June Brown as Delilah
- Peter James as Doctor Rosenblum
- Tricia Vessey as Jennifer Langley
- Richard Gant as Lieutenant Brutus
[edit] Response
The film was criticized for breaking with the program's tradition of having Mr. Bean as the centre of attention and for the alleged Americanization required to sell it overseas (Bean also speaks intelligently, albeit with apparent difficulty, as opposed to his frequent mumbling in the TV show).[1] However, the movie grossed over USD$230 million globally on a budget estimated at $22 million.[2] It was followed by a sequel in 2007 called Mr. Bean's Holiday.[3]
The film currently has a 36% "rotten" rating amongst collated reviews at Rotten Tomatoes, with many critics suggesting that it was over-long and lacking in jokes.[4]
[edit] Soundtrack
The film's original score was by Howard Goodall, who had also written the music for the television series, although the original Mr. Bean theme was not used. Other non-original songs were also featured, in particular The Beatles' "Yesterday" (sung by Wet Wet Wet).
The CD soundtrack also featured a song not used in the film, a cover of the Alice Cooper song "Elected" (from the Billion Dollar Babies album) performed by famed Iron Maiden lead singer and Heavy Metal icon Bruce Dickinson which features sound dubs of Mr. Bean making campaign promises. This had been used for Comic Relief in 1992.
Boyzone also released a song for the film, entitled "Picture of You".
[edit] List of songs performed by various artists
- I Love L.A.
Performed by: Randy Newman - Picture Of You
Performed by: Boyzone - I Get Around
Performed by: The Beach Boys - Walking On Sunshine
Performed by: Katrina And The Waves - Yesterday
Performed by: Wet Wet Wet - Running Back For More
Performed by: Louise - That Kinda Guy
Performed by: Thomas Jules-Stock - Give Me A Little More Time
Performed by: Gabrielle - He's A Rebel
Performed by: Alisha's Attic - Stuck In The Middle With You
Performed by: Susanna Hoffs - Art For Art's Sake
Performed by: 10cc - Have Fun Go Mad
Performed by: Blair - Can We Talk (Pure Radio Mix)
Performed by: Code Red - Bean Theme (Mad Pianos)
Performed by: Howard Goodall - Elected
Performed by: Mr. Bean And The Smear Campiagn featuring Bruce Dickinson
[edit] References
- ^ Review at the All Movie Guide by Karl Williams, URL accessed July 29, 2006
- ^ Box office figures at boxofficemojo.com, URL accessed July 29th, 2006
- ^ Bean 2 at the official Mr. Bean site, URL accessed July 29th, 2006]
- ^ Bean at Rotten Tomatoes
[edit] External links
- Bean at the Internet Movie Database
- Bean at Rotten Tomatoes
- Bean at Metacritic
- Bean at Box Office Mojo
- Bean at Allmovie
- BBC review
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