Who would think you could watch an amazing film like this and then find, gosh, that it has a G rating? Even Disney cartoons these days include untoward allusions. This movie has all the spunk and charm in the world, and absolutely nothing offensive. It really is for everyone.
It helps a great deal, of course, that it gives prominent place to one of my all-time favorite songs, La Mar by Charles Trenet. (The whole soundtrack is full of great songs, I want to get the CD.) But this movie is so involving, you care so much about the characters. Who would think something with Mr. Bean could so draw you in? How does producer Tim Bevan keep coming up with great projects? And I'm so glad to see that Simon McBurney, one of my favorite actors, provided the story. I guess big kudos also go out to director Steve Bendelackit looks like this is his first major motion picture.
I really wasn't expecting much of this. A family member brought home a DVD of this and a DVD of 'Waitress.' I watched 'Waitress' first because I figured it might have sad elements, and I wanted to leave Mr. Bean for later, because that would have to be 'light.' I didn't care much for the first Mr. Bean movie, didn't think it was very good, but you have to watch all of these, if only from a sense of duty, because Rowan Atkinson is undoubtedly a genius and Mr. Bean is a unique, amazing creation.
But this movie was from beginning to end a real joy. It's so much inspired by all of those old French comedies and the work of Jacque Tati as Mr. Hulot, but it rises way, way above them. I have always disliked the films of Tati: the cold, icy satires on modern life, the over-rehearsed, over-analyzed nature of each movement, each shot. There are elements of wit, but it's like you're being dared to be so low, so uncouth as to dislike it, and the films are patronizing in their emulation of the old silent masters like Charlie Chaplin. 'Look how daring and intellectual we are, we're inspired by a comic everyman.' Every moment of this movie feels fresh and lived. It feels fresher than Tati, more like 'Le Million' by Rene Clair or 'Drole de Drame' starring the immortal Michel Simon.
As the starlet Sabine, Emma de Caunes is the ideal ingénue, pretty and charming, très sympa.
But the kid, played by Max Baldry, is a revelation. The movie is as indebted to him for its success as it is to Rowan Atkinson. He is so utterly believable as a Russian boy used to life in France. He is totally unpretentious. I think he will be a major star one day. He has to be.
I can't of course spoil the ending for you, but the payoff is BIG, hugely big, and wonderfully emotionally satisfying. I watched it over and over again.
You might not do that, but you will laugh and you will cry. I did.
It helps a great deal, of course, that it gives prominent place to one of my all-time favorite songs, La Mar by Charles Trenet. (The whole soundtrack is full of great songs, I want to get the CD.) But this movie is so involving, you care so much about the characters. Who would think something with Mr. Bean could so draw you in? How does producer Tim Bevan keep coming up with great projects? And I'm so glad to see that Simon McBurney, one of my favorite actors, provided the story. I guess big kudos also go out to director Steve Bendelackit looks like this is his first major motion picture.
I really wasn't expecting much of this. A family member brought home a DVD of this and a DVD of 'Waitress.' I watched 'Waitress' first because I figured it might have sad elements, and I wanted to leave Mr. Bean for later, because that would have to be 'light.' I didn't care much for the first Mr. Bean movie, didn't think it was very good, but you have to watch all of these, if only from a sense of duty, because Rowan Atkinson is undoubtedly a genius and Mr. Bean is a unique, amazing creation.
But this movie was from beginning to end a real joy. It's so much inspired by all of those old French comedies and the work of Jacque Tati as Mr. Hulot, but it rises way, way above them. I have always disliked the films of Tati: the cold, icy satires on modern life, the over-rehearsed, over-analyzed nature of each movement, each shot. There are elements of wit, but it's like you're being dared to be so low, so uncouth as to dislike it, and the films are patronizing in their emulation of the old silent masters like Charlie Chaplin. 'Look how daring and intellectual we are, we're inspired by a comic everyman.' Every moment of this movie feels fresh and lived. It feels fresher than Tati, more like 'Le Million' by Rene Clair or 'Drole de Drame' starring the immortal Michel Simon.
As the starlet Sabine, Emma de Caunes is the ideal ingénue, pretty and charming, très sympa.
But the kid, played by Max Baldry, is a revelation. The movie is as indebted to him for its success as it is to Rowan Atkinson. He is so utterly believable as a Russian boy used to life in France. He is totally unpretentious. I think he will be a major star one day. He has to be.
I can't of course spoil the ending for you, but the payoff is BIG, hugely big, and wonderfully emotionally satisfying. I watched it over and over again.
You might not do that, but you will laugh and you will cry. I did.