Review of Bean (1997) by Uditha D — 29 Dec 2011
As an avid childhood fan of the original TV series, I was eager to watch Bean's transition to film (and America). It was very nearly funny, and kind of okay: but it was also disappointing in some respects.
The biggest flaw this film had was in what I felt was an excess of speech and dialogue in Bean's character. For a proper filmic Bean, I feel that there should be less dialogue and more silent comedy.
His is what I would term an Expressionistic character, reminiscent of German silent-era acting (and Jacques Tati's impromptu comic acting as well). But in Bean, there was too much of dialogue. Even though the dialogue in its other characters were effective, in Bean it was horrendously out of place.
Needless to say, it was in those scenes where he didn't speak which got most hilarious (including Bean "learning" to "show the finger"). Its plot was not in any way ludicrous, and its explicit juxtaposition of Bean's British-ness and the Langley family's American suburban lifestyle was cleverly shown throughout.
In all, I strongly feel that were it not for that one weakness I saw in this, Bean would have been a more effective start-up for a filmic transition of Atkinson's lovable character.
This review of Bean (1997) was written by Uditha D on 29 Dec 2011.
Bean has generally received mixed reviews.
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