Ho John Lee’s Weblog

We recently had a mini film festival at our house featuring Rowan Atkinson as Mr. Bean. Some time ago, we watched Johnny English (2003), featuring Rowan Atkinson as a Bean-like British secret agent (sort of Bean-as-James-Bond), which was well received at our house. (I was dispatched in search of Abba’s “Does Your Mother Know” the next day to accompany toothbrushing and dancing the following evening).

Bean: The Movie (1997) seemed like a good bet for family movie night when we came across it at the video store. In it, Mr. Bean is a genial, but eccentric and idiotic British museum guard who is sent in place of an art expert to accompany the transfer of Whistler’s Mother (the painting) on its way to a trendy Los Angeles art museum. General chaos and silliness follows, including the destruction of assorted artwork and valuables, fun with laxatives, and mishaps while cooking, ending with a turkey stuck on Mr. Bean’s head. This is a fun, silly movie, appropriate for kids 8+ in most households.

The following week, we started watching The Whole Bean, a set of 3 DVDs. There are around 5 episode per disc, so it took a few evenings spread out over a couple of weeks to work through them. These are from the original television series in the UK, and are more likely to appeal to fans of British comedy. Mr. Bean’s character in the TV episodes is not quite as good-hearted as the made-for-the-US version of Bean portrayed in the movie. Mr. Bean is not politically correct, and might not be age-appropriate for under 8-10 or so, depending on your household.

In the TV episodes, Bean attempts (and fails) to cheat on his math exams, misleads a blind man at the bus stop, attempts (and fails) to steal postage from mail in the postal box, and other misbehavior. All of this makes for good comedy, but sets a different tone overall than the movie.

There also are a few episodes in which Mr. Bean loses his clothes and has other wardrobe malfunctions, including ending up naked in a swimming pool after diving off the high dive platform, then trying to make his way out past other swimmers, pool attendants and the girl’s swimming class without being seen. He also inadvertently steals and wears some women’s clothing in a laundromat in another episode, ultimately ending up inside the washer.

Another aspect of watching the TV episodes is that you get a glimpse of everyday life in the UK to compare with here in the US. Not that Mr. Bean’s TV neighborhood is any more representative than that of the average US television show, say “Friends” or “Seinfeld”, but it’s another topic for discussion while we’re watching the movie and having some popcorn.

Because there is so little dialogue, and so much physical humor, Mr. Bean may also be well-suited for movie nights when your friends are a mix of native and non-native English speakers. Mr. Bean: The Movie was generally more fun for us (8-year-old kid + parents). The Mr. Bean episodes from the UK were also enjoyable, but be prepared for some questions and discussion if you’re watching with your kids.

This entry was posted on Sunday, February 27th, 2005 at 8:59 pm and is filed under Books, Movies, Music. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.