For all fans of Mr. Bean, his new film will make sense. Mr. Bean’s Holiday (Universal Pictures 2007, G), however, is not for those who have never seen or heard of Mr. Bean. Those who have no idea what is going on will definitely be demanding for their money back.

The movie opens with Mr. Bean (Rowan Atkinson) winning a trip to the French Riviera and a camcorder in a church raffle. When he reaches Paris on the train from England, he encounters many problems, one of which involves a seafood platter, while trying to catch his connecting train because he is unable to speak French. When he finally reaches his train, he pulls aside a pedestrian to record him boarding it. It turns out that the man he asked to record is a judge at the Cannes Film Festival, and the train leaves without the judge on it. Along the way, Mr. Bean and the judge meet an attractive actress named Sabine, (Emma de Caunes) who helps them reach the film festival. The group embarks on a wild adventure to reach Cannes, and their journey is documented on the camcorder that eventually comes in handy.

This movie is more suited for those who understand European humor and have already been introduced to Mr. Bean. The movie has many bright moments, such as Mr. Bean resorting to street performance to get money for a bus. That translates extremely well for everyone. The cast was wonderful except for Atkinson who was simply strange. Mr. Bean grunted and used only short words to explain things, which did not help trying to understand the plot of the story, which was extremely sporadic and lacked character development. All in all, Mr. Bean’s Holiday was a strangely constructed movie.