Bean (film)

Bean (also known as Bean: The Movie, Mr Bean: The Movie or Bean: The Ultimate Disaster Movie) is a 1997 British comedy film based on the British television series Mr. Bean. Directed by Mel Smith and written by Robin Driscoll and Richard Curtis (both writers for the TV series), the film stars Rowan Atkinson as Mr. Bean, Peter MacNicol, Pamela Reed, Harris Yulin, Sandra Oh and Burt Reynolds.

It is a British-American venture produced by Working Title Films, Tiger Aspect Films, and distributed by PolyGram Filmed Entertainment and Gramercy Pictures. Bean was released in the United Kingdom on 2 August 1997 and in the United States on 7 November 1997 to mixed reviews from critics but was a box office success, grossing $250 million worldwide against an $18 million budget. A stand-alone sequel titled Mr. Bean's Holiday was released a decade later.

The main plot unveils Bean's "ultimate disaster" as he commits the largest mishap he's done so far: ruining the priceless painting "Whistler's Mother", which has been bought by an American art gallery, following other unfortunate misadventures in the United States.

Synopsis
Mr. Bean, a hopeless guard at the "Royal National Gallery", London, is sent by his employers, who wish to fire him due to him always being late, constantly sleeping on the job, and having no manners, to America under the pseudonym of "Dr. Bean" to oversee the transfer of Whistler's Mother to a Los Angeles art gallery. Once at the airport, he is surprised to see policemen with guns and pretends to have one. He turns around and runs away from the police, with the first two police officers following him. Another two joins the chase which forced Bean to use a walkalator in an opposite direction, with two more police officers riding that same walkalator. At the waiting area, a policeman tells the passersby to lie on the floor. Once Bean gets up, four policemen point a weapon, with two more standing behind him. One of them told him to take out a weapon and place it on a floor. After taking out a weapon, he ends up being detained by Lieutenant Brutus, who is unsettled by his odd behaviour. Once released, he meets David Langley, an employee of the Grierson art gallery, and David's family, with whom Bean is to stay for his visit. Despite winning the affection of David's son (played by Andrew Lawrence), David's wife is hostile about having to look after him, while David's rebellious teenage daughter finds Bean "ugly as Meat Loaf's butt". His wife later leaves after Bean breaks a family heirloom while fiddling with a CD player. In his wife's absence, David offers to take Bean on a tour of the Los Angeles art galleries. However, Bean decides that he would rather go to Pacific Park. The pair go on a motion simulator ride that Bean wants to go to, however, he didn't seem to have much fun at all (even to the point of falling asleep), and exits the ride as normal. However, upon discovering the control room of the ride unattended and reading the manual on how to maneuver it, Bean decides to make the ride faster. Having modified the ride to be more exciting for him (to the expense and horror of other riders), Bean is swiftly detained by Brutus again. Back at home, Bean's attempt to cook a turkey (in less than 5 hours) for David's boss and his wife fails when the microwave explodes, spraying turkey flesh all over the kitchen. Afterwards, David seriously doubts Bean's knowledge of art, so he asks him simple, somewhat obvious questions about art and finds that he is not a doctor after all.

Once the painting arrives at the gallery, Bean is given a few minutes alone to study it for his grand "speech" at the official revealing ceremony. However, whilst dusting the frame, Bean sneezes on the painting and wipes it with a handkerchief, not knowing that it is covered in blue ink. Terrified, Bean takes it to the caretaker's cupboard to get some agent by which to remove the ink. Unfortunately, he uses lacquer thinner, which causes the paint to lift. He rubs it but the face was removed as a result of a said substance. Bean attempts to patch it up with an extremely unconvincing cartoon face. On seeing it, David Langley is horrified and hides the painting in the metallic frame. Fearing he will lose his job and possibly face criminal proceedings for the vandalism of Whistler's Mother, David and Bean drown their sorrows with alcohol.

During the night, Mr. Bean hatches a plan to restore the painting. He gathers a few items from the house and makes his way to the gallery. He distracts the only security guard on duty by pouring laxative to his coffee and misplacing the keys and exchanges the painting for a poster version of itself, along with some egg whites brushed on to give it a realistic, painted touch and some chewing gum to get it to stick. At the unveiling the next day, David is shocked to find the painting restored and Bean is left to make an unconventional, impromptu, but well-received speech about the painting's significance. After the unveiling, Lieutenant Brutus finds David (who initially imagines that he has discovered the truth) and informs him that his daughter, Jennifer, has been involved in a motorcycle accident and is in intensive care. David is given a police escort to the hospital, although Brutus stops on the way after seeing a man with a gun.

Due to a mix-up at the hospital, Bean is mistaken for a doctor (he is still wearing his "Doctor Bean" name tag from the gallery) and pushed into an operating theater containing Brutus, who has been shot. While the other doctors and nurses are distracted, Bean unconventionally retrieves the bullet and saves him. Bean is again mistaken for a doctor, this time by David who pulls him in to see Jennifer, who is unconscious. Bean is unsure what to do and starts playing about with a defibrillator, managing to electrocute himself but bringing Jennifer back to consciousness after being thrown after being electrocuted and falling on Jennifer. Still not recognizing him as Bean, they stop him and tell him that they will offer him anything. Bean then pulls down his face mask and asks if he can stay for another week. David drives Bean to Sunset Boulevard, where, after learning the finger from a biker (who at first was so impressed by the thumbs up), he misinterprets it as a greeting gesture and inappropriately shows it to people as they pass by.

After another week in Los Angeles with the Langleys, Bean goes home. At the end of the movie, Bean is back in his London flat, and is shown to have taken the original Whistler's Mother home with him, still having the cartoon face he drew on it. The credits close with Mr. Bean walking into the viewing area, breaking the fourth wall and ending the film with: "Yes, I normally stay to the end as well...bye.".

Trivia

 * This movie doesn't feature a laugh track playing in the background.
 * Irma is absent from this movie.
 * This is the first theatrical appearance of Mr. Bean.
 * This movie was rated PG-13 for moments of vulgar gestures and risque humor.
 * This is the only Mr. Bean film of the 1990s and the 20th century.
 * The producers were initially looking for an unknown actor to play General Newton. But being a fan of Mr. Bean (1990), Burt Reynolds asked for a role, and was then cast to appear as Newton.
 * Jimmy Smits was considered for the role of Lieutenant Brutus.
 * This movie was going to end with Mr. Bean returning to the National Gallery, only to find it abandoned, so he ends up mailing himself back to the Langley family. In truth, the staff of the Gallery staged the whole thing to drive Mr. Bean away.
 * It was rumored that this movie was originally going to end with an earthquake in Los Angeles, California, and the quake causes the glass frame surrounding Whistler's Mother to shatter and break, and the frame to break revealing Whistler's Mother as the poster with which Mr. Bean switched the original, and when Elmer finds that it isn't the real painting, the movie ends with him screaming. An earthquake scene, without Elmer screaming, appears at the start of a trailer for the film.