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Mr. Bean's Holiday (also known as Bean 2, Bean on Holiday and French Bean) is a British-American-French 2007 road comedy film starring Rowan Atkinson as Mr. Bean which was released in the United Kingdom and Australia on 30 March 2007 and on 24 August 2007 in the United States and Canada and received mixed reviews.

It's the second film based on the television series Mr. Bean, a sequel to 1997's Bean. Unlike the previous film, this film is more faithful to the original series, as Mr. Bean rarely spoke in this film.

Release

News of the second film first broke in early 2005, suggesting that it would be written by Simon McBurney, although in December 2005, Atkinson stated that the screenplay was being written by himself and long-time collaborator Richard Curtis.

The screenplay was finally confirmed to have been written by Robin Driscoll, Simon McBurney and Hamish McColl. Atkinson also said that Mr. Bean's Holiday will most likely be the last [Mr. Bean]] story he appears in. He was also quoted as saying "Never say never" but went on to add that it was highly unlikely he would appear as Mr. Bean again. Unlike the 1997 Mel Smith film, Mr Bean's Holiday was directed by Steve Bendelack. The film began shooting on 15 May 2006.

It was the official film for Red Nose Day 2007, with money from the film going towards the charity Comic Relief. Prior to the film's release, a new and exclusive Mr. Bean sketch was broadcast on the Comic Relief telethon on BBC One on 16 March 2007. The movie's official premiere took place at Leicester Square's Odeon in London on Sunday, 25 March, and helped to raise money for both Comic Relief and the Oxford Children's Hospital Appeal charity.

Universal Pictures released a teaser trailer in November 2006 and in December 2006 launched an official website online.

Synopsis

Mr Bean is going on holiday to the south of France, looking for a quiet and sunny trip in the Riviera. However, his trip doesn't go properly when he has to face a series of misunderstandings and totally unfortunate coincidences. Eventually, Mr Bean will end up spoiling the last film of the snobbish director Carson Clay and appearing by accident at the Cannes Film Festival.

Plot

Bean (Rowan Atkinson) wins a raffle and claims his prize a holiday involving a train journey to Cannes, a Sony Handycam DCR-HC96 and €200. Bean proceeds to film his trip to the French Riviera beach on the video camera.

On the train, Bean buys some coffee. Bean arrives in Paris, France where he accidentally took a Renault Espace taxi from the Gare du Nord railway station to the arch at La Defense in Paris, Bean is forced to make his way on foot with the help of his compass, literally walking through Paris (with disastrous effects) towards Gare de Lyon from La Défense to board his next train towards Cannes. Unfortunately, he misses his train when his tie gets stuck while trying to buy a sandwich from a vending machine. Discovering that a back-up train won't be leaving for another hour, he has time to try some French food at Le Train Bleu restaurant. Unable to communicate with the waiter in French and misunderstanding his suggestion, he accidentally orders oysters and langoustines, disgusting the taste of oysters. He pours the oysters into a nearby lady's handbag and eats a whole langoustine without removing the shell. He quickly escapes when the lady sees the oysters inside her bag.

Back on the platform, Bean asks a man, who happens to be a Cannes Film Festival jury member and Russian movie critic Emil Dachevsky (Karel Roden), to use his camcorder to film his walking onto the train. By the time they are done, the TGV is about to leave. Although Bean manages to enter the train earlier, the doors close before Emil can enter. Emil told Bean to open the door but there is no button and then helplessly films Emil while running. Emil's son, Stefan Dachevsky (Max Baldry) is left on board alone. Bean attempts to befriends with Stefan, who gets off at the next stop to meet his father. While confronting a threatening stranger who approaches Stefan, Bean accidentally misses the train's departure, losing his bag aboard. The train that Stefan's father has boarded does not stop at the station and he holds up a mobile number which reads 0608080797, but the last two digits are covered by his fingers. Bean and Stefan write down the possible numbers, but their first three attempts of calling Stefan's father prove fruitless. They end up calling a hairdresser, an undertaker and a 2-year-old kid. They board the next train, accidentally leaving Bean's ticket, passport and money behind which results in the duo being forced off the train at the next stop. They ask a lady for money to try and contact Stefan's father, but still, they are unable to reach him. Ironically, they end up contacting a maid who is cleaning Stefan's parents' hotel room. Then, a security camera takes a picture of Bean making a fake evil face. The station master sees Bean and Stepan trying to get money out of some public phones and chases them out of the station, suspecting them as vandals.

Feeling hungry and low on money, Bean and Stepan decide to attempt at busking by miming to Puccini's O mio babbino caro (sung by Rita Streich), Mr. Bombastic and other music and it proves successful. Afterwards, Bean buys two bus tickets to Cannes and some food to eat on the way, but he loses his ticket when it gets caught in the breeze and then snagged in the talon of a chicken, which is subsequently loaded into a farm pick-up. Bean steals a nearby bicycle and follows the pick-up and passes a bicycle race in the process. When he reaches the farm, he finds a large chicken pen with thousands of chickens and realizes that he'll never find the ticket. As he leaves the farm, he finds the bicycle destroyed by a passing tank except for his video camera, resulting in Bean getting himself stranded. Bean attempts to hitch a ride on a moped, but it won't go any further since it cannot hold two people or more. Ironically, a Volkswagen bus with Stefan inside passes by when Bean accidentally locks himself in an old outhouse by the side of the road. After almost getting killed by a passing truck when he has managed to move the outhouse out on the road, Bean sets off for a place to settle for the night.

Bean wakes up the next morning to see German World War II soldiers attacking a village he was sleeping in. Eventually, he realizes that the village that he was in was used as a set for a commercial, which is being directed by Carson Clay (Willem Dafoe). Carson joins Bean as a soldier but he is fired afterwards when Carson sees Bean's camera attached on the gun's tip. When Bean's video camera battery dies, he decides to recharge it, but accidentally blows up the set afterwards, injuring Carson and losing his hat.

Once Bean continues to hitchhike, he is picked up by actress Sabine (Emma de Caunes), whom Bean encountered at the commercial filming, driving the same Mini just like Bean. She is on her way to the 59th Cannes Film Festival where Carson Clay's new film, in which she makes her debut, is going to be presented. When they pull over to the petrol station, Bean finds Stefan in its café. Continuing to drive to Cannes, Bean finds Sabine's cell phone, which gives him an idea to try and contact Stepan's father, but yet again, they still are unable to reach him. They end up calling a man who accidentally drops his phone in a urinal, a man who commits suicide by jumping off a bridge (after he broke up with his lover) and even the waiter from the Le Train Bleu restaurant. When Sabine falls asleep behind the steering wheel that night, Bean takes over the driving but struggles to stay awake himself. The next morning they finally reach Cannes and film photos from above until Sabine is late for her premiere, so the trio quickly scampers to the event. At the 59th Cannes Film Festival, Carson is walking on the red carpet followed by Emil behind him, even without the news of Stefan's absence.

On the way to the 59th Cannes Film Festival, Stefan is having fun with Sabine's costumes until the Mini runs low on fuel, so Bean pulls over to the nearest fuel station to fill it up. Back at the Cannes Film Festival, a French man approves his speech. When Sabine goes into a petrol station to change for the premiere, she watches TV news depicting Bean as Stefan's kidnapper and Sabine as an accomplice. The news anchor also informs that road blocks have been set up all over France, trying to catch the trio and to make matters worse, there were even wanted posters with Bean on them. In order not to get caught before they reach the premiere venue, Stefan dresses up as Sabine's daughter, while Bean dresses up as Sabine's mother. They manage to get past the police and Sabine arrives at the premiere on time.

The trio sneaks into the premiere of the film PLAYBACK TIME, a shameless vanity production film written, produced, directed and starring Carson himself. From the first few moments, the audience is horribly bored. Sabine tells Bean that her big scene is coming up, but has left her dismayed after being aware that her role has been cut. Seeing that Carson uses a similar video camera as him and hoping to cheer up Sabine, Bean goes to the projection room and plugs his camera into the projector. The ensuing scenes, heavily featuring Sabine and Bean, fit Carson's narration. When Bean is chased by security guards, he ends up on stage while his video is being played. Emil his son's footages where the film ends and an angry Emil yells that Bean has kidnapped him. But just as Bean is about to be arrested, Stefan also appears from behind the screen and finally reunites with his father. The audience gives a standing ovation for what they believe to be part of Carson's movie. Carson's initial anger fades and he embraces Bean and takes credit for the film's success.

After the screening, Bean picks up his camera, leaves the building and finally arrives at the beach, encountering many of the other characters including Sabine and Stefan. The film ends with Bean and the whole cast miming Charles Trenet's famous song La Mer.

After the post credits, Bean writes the word FIN, a French and Spanish word for THE END on the wet sand using his right foot. He films it until the sea washes the words away and the film comes to a dead end once his camera's battery dies again.

Songs

  • La Mer (Charles Trenet)
  • Crash (Matt Willis)
  • o mio babbino caro (Rita Sterich)

Cast

Character Actor
Mr. Bean Rowan Atkinson
Vicar Steve Pemberton
Lily at the Stereo Lily Atkinson
Boy with Train Preston Nyman
Buffet Attendant Sharlit Deyzac
Busker Accordion Francois Touch
Sabine Emma de Caunes
Traffic Controllers Arsène Mosca
Stéphane Debac
Carson Clay Willem Dafoe
French Journalist Philippe Spall
Maitre'D Jean Rochefort
Emil Karel Roden
Stepan Max Baldry
Tipsy Man Pascal Jounier
Hairdresser Woman Emmanuelle Cosso
Undertaker Francis Coffinet
Ticket Inspector Catherine Hosmalin
Woman on Bench Zazie Delem
Man in Toilet Anthony Morabito
Busker Percussion Adilson Monteiro
Busker Trumpet Michel Estrade
Busker Guitar Stefane Mellino
Busker Double Bass Francois Chanut
Busker Banjo Fabien Arnaud
Busker Saxophone Evelyne Guyon
Busker Violin Adrien Rodrigue
Busker Trombone Francois Roche
Busker Singer Bams Betga-Tchouni
Busker DJ Louis Gomis
Station Master Gilles Gaston-Dreyfus
Emil's Wife Julie Fournier
Hotel Maid Flaminia Cinque
Bus Driver Urbain Cancelier
Chicken Farmer Dimitri Radochevitch
Man on Mobilette Luc-Antoine Salmont
First AD Julie Ferrier
Second AD Nicolas Bridet
Costume Woman Nathalie Levy-Lang
Anchorman Antoine de Caunes
Pyrotechnicians Michel Winogradoff
Julien Cottereau
Suicidal Man Eric Naggar
Newsreader Ian Porter
Policemen Anthony Paliotti
Nader Boussandel
Red Carpet Security Man Bak
Burly Security Man Bachir Allouane
Luther Clint Dyer
Suited Criminals Christopher Sciueref
James Kavaz
Musician Van Driver Jehanguir Byramjee
Bored Spectator Thomas Lemoine
Papparazzo John Snowden
Clay's Bodyguard Robert Stone
Businessmen on Train Philippe Cariou
Luc Palun
Unknown Steve Campos
Pierre-Benoist Varoclier

Rating

In the UK, it was classified by the British Board of Film Classification as PG for containing "irresponsible behavior".

This film was originally given a PG rating by the Motion Picture Association of America for brief mild language and adult situations, but Universal cut out most of the language (leaving Stepan saying "damn" in Russian in one shot and the same word in French in a later shot), so the film would be rated G by the MPAA.

It was one of the last Universal theatrically released films to be rated G. The first film, by contrast, was rated PG-13. It is much cleaner in content than the original film.

Aspect Ratio

  • 1.85:1
  • 2.39:1 (Playback Time)
  • 1.33:1 (Full-screen prints, along with the film itself in open matte)

Trivia

  • Since there hasn't been any live-action Mr. Bean revival produced since this film (except for some occasional one-off projects and commercials), this film very likely serves as the series finale to the original series.
  • Like the first movie, there are no laugh track playing in the background.
  • Coincidentally, this is the second time Bean visited France.
  • Teddy never appears in this movie.
  • Irma doesn't appear in this movie as well.
    • However, it is possible that Teddy is in Mr. Bean's suitcase, because most likely Mr. Bean would never go on a holiday without Teddy.
    • Teddy is a minor character in the first movie, Bean. Teddy only appears in the end of the said movie.
  • When dining at the French restaurant, Bean can't bring himself to eat the oysters. This is a possible reference to the episode Mr. Bean in Room 426, where he accidentally ate bad oysters. This is the first time that continuity is shown in the series
  • Since Mr. Bean’s Holiday is a stand-alone sequel, neither of the characters from the 1997 film returned nor are mentioned.
  • Every time the Band appears, it gets bigger because after Mr. Bean gave the woman the Lobster. There are Men Joining.
  • In June 2022, Rowan Atkinson was in a interview with British GQ, and he stated that the bike riding scene racing against the cyclists made him very tired, as he stated himself that he isn't a athlete nor a cyclist. Atkinson reflected that the cycling sequence to be the most difficult thing he had ever done as Mr. Bean.

DVD and HD DVD release

Mr. Bean's Holiday was released on DVD and HD DVD on 27 November 2007. The DVD version is in separate widescreen and pan and scan for the US markets formats. The DVD charted at #1 on the UK DVD Chart on its week of release.

Future

Main article: Mr. Bean: The Animated Movie

Gallery

Mr. Bean
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Mr. BeanThe Return of Mr. BeanThe Curse of Mr. BeanMr. Bean Goes to TownThe Trouble with Mr. BeanMr. Bean Rides AgainMerry Christmas, Mr. BeanMr. Bean in Room 426Do-It-Yourself Mr. BeanMind the Baby, Mr. BeanBack to School, Mr. BeanTee Off, Mr. BeanGoodnight Mr. BeanHair by Mr. Bean of London
Compilation
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Turkey WeightArmchair SaleMarchingPlaying With Matches
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Mr. Bean's Red Nose DayBlind DateTorvill & BeanMr. Bean's WeddingFuneral
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Mr. Bean Takes an ExamMr. Bean Goes to a Première
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