WHO MADE IT? Director: Steve Bendelack Cast: Rowan Atkinson, Emma de Caunes, Willem Dafoe and Max Baldry | WHAT'S IT ABOUT? | The bumbling and monosyllabic Mr Bean (he can only say non, oui and gracias) wins first prize at his local church raffle - a week's holiday in the South of France with a video camera and 200 Euros thrown in. The movie focuses on his journey to Cannes and the mayhem and havoc he leaves in his wake, all of which he films on the way. He is helped by a young boy (whose father gets separated from him thanks to Mr Bean) and a budding film actress (de Caunes) who is heading for the Cannes film festival, where her movie is being premiered. | WHAT'S IT LIKE? | It's ten years since Mr Bean's debut on the big screen which unexpectedly grossed more than 260 million worldwide. They should have struck while the iron was hot. Rowan Atkinson, reprising the role, sadly seems a little too old now to be playing Bean. The latter's budding friendship with the boy (Baldry), although totally innocent, just doesn't look right either. Max Baldry and Emma de Caunes give sweet performances but it's not enough. Why Willem Dafoe would want to appear in Mr Bean's Holiday is a mystery too. Bean's world is archaic and clichéd (French cyclists, old men sitting outside cafés watching life go by in a quaint village, French resistance fighters, the bumbling English abroad) and the slapstick humour just isn't funny. Bean eating oysters and langoustines whole at a French restaurant is merely gross. The film is driven by Bean's ambition to reach a lovely beach but by the end of it you really couldn't care less. On the plus side it is a wonderful advert for Cannes and the South of France. Tati's classic French comedy Monsieur Hulot's Holiday this is not. In the words of Mr Bean I would say non, oui and gracias to this sequel. | Opens on 30 March 2007
