Synopsis
Childlike Englishman, Mr. Bean, is an incompetent watchman at the Royal National Gallery. After the museum's board of directors' attempt to have him fired is blocked by the chairman, who has taken a liking to Bean, they send him to Los Angeles to act as their ambassador for the unveiling of a historic painting to humiliate him. Fooled, Mr. Bean must now successfully unveil the painting or risk his and a hapless Los Angeles curator's termination.
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Cast
- Rowan AtkinsonMr. Bean
- Peter MacNicolDavid Langley
- Pamela ReedAlison Langley
- Tricia VesseyJennifer Langley
- Andrew LawrenceKevin Langley
- Harris YulinGeorge Grierson
- Burt ReynoldsGeneral Newton
- Richard GantLieutenant Brutus
- Chris EllisDetective Butler
- Tom McGowanWalter Merchandise
Recommendations
- 80
The New York Times
But while rooted in British sensibilities, Bean is not to be confused with a Noel Coward comedy. Not every gag in Bean succeeds, but compared with most comedies, this one is a keeper. - 75
San Francisco Chronicle
Some of the middle section of Bean sags, but most of the film zips along with a series of comic setups, played like skits, that emphasize Bean's klutziness, his feeble mentality, his childlike, me-too urges. - 75
San Francisco Examiner
To enumerate exactly how Bean messes up would be to expose the silliness of this movie, and since Bean's humor is terribly silly, rather, wonderfully silly, there isn't much point in going into detail. - 70
Washington Post
The movie feels stretched out and thin. - 63
ReelViews
While Bean branches out from the format developed for the television series, it remains faithful to the concepts and constructs that led to its success. - 63
Chicago Sun-Times
There are many moments here that are very funny, but the film as a whole is a bit too long. - 60
Salon
Whatever the reason, Bean saddles Atkinson with a story that hangs on him like a dead weight and a filmmaking style that surrounds him like dead air. - 50
The Globe and Mail (Toronto)
Bean falls well short of a work of genius. Indeed, the unbearable slightness of Bean feels like nothing so much as a betrayal of the television series on which it is based.
