A big hit in Europe, “Mr. Bean’s Holiday” seems aimed at an elusive segment of the American audi ence: 5-year-old cinephiles.
Adults will begin yawning after their first 10 minutes with the klutzy Mr. Bean, a character introduced by British slapstick comic Rowan Atkinson on British TV in the 1980s.
Mr. Bean actually delivered some dialogue in his last big-screen outing a decade ago. But he’s back to a few barely coherent utterances for his latest adventure, which begins when he wins a trip to the French Riviera and a video camera in a church raffle.
There is much excruciatingly unfunny video footage on display as Mr. Bean wreaks havoc everywhere he goes in France. About the only amusement involved a lunch of oysters and prawns (legendary French star Jean Rochefort plays a waiter) that had a few kids in the audience in stitches.
While boarding a train, Mr. Bean accidentally separates a Russian filmmaker from his young son (Max Baldry), whom he then accompanies on the way to Cannes – at times inadvertently suggesting a pedophile. He wanders into a commercial being shot by an egotistical actor-
director (Willem Dafoe), where he hooks up with an aspiring actress (Emma de Caunes) also bound for Cannes.
The film, which is something of a dubious homage to Jacques Tati’s “Mr. Hulot’s Holiday,” borrows from many other films, most notably a bicycle bit from “Pee-wee’s Big Adventure.”
“Mr. Bean’s Holiday” picks up steam when it finally arrives in Cannes just in time to wreak yet more havoc at the big film festival, but getting there is pretty tedious. A little of the wildly mugging Atkinson goes a long way.
MR. BEAN’S HOLIDAY
* 1/2
Bean there, done that.
Running time: 88 minutes. Rated G. At the E-Walk, the Orpheum, the First and 62nd Street, others.