Mr. Bean's Holiday

A lot of movies came out yesterday but the only one I was actually excited about at all was Julie Delpy's "2 Days in Paris." Since I wasn't in the mood to drive all the way down to the Harvard Exit to see it last night I figured I would go watch one of the five new wide releases that I didn't particularly care about because hey, it's something to do.
I've enjoyed some Mr. Bean over the years, mostly from his sketches. I saw the film "Bean" about ten years ago and I seem to remember it having its moments but not being anything special. Personally I preferred Rowan Atkinson as the scheming Blackadder, particularly in the WWI comedy (yes, WWI comedy), "Blackadder Goes Forth." It's fun to watch Hugh Laurie play the anti-House in that series as well.
"Mr. Bean's Holiday" is (not surprisingly) essentially a series of sketches held together by an incredibly flimsy plot, which would be fine if the sketches were funny. Most of them however are not. It's only 80 minutes long but stretches of it are pretty boring and unimaginative. Atkinson does his Bean schtick, which is sometimes funny and other times maddening, and other actors such as Willem Dafoe are just sort of there. There are however a few moments of absolute brilliance interspersed, including a very funny reference to Omar Sharif's entrance in "Lawrence of Arabia." The scene works even if you don't get the reference, but I always like my comedy with a side of comedy. Dafoe's character, an egotistical film director, premieres his latest film at Cannes, and the clips we see of his movie, "Playback Time" are easily the funniest thing in "Mr. Bean's Holiday." This is not a terrible film, but the few moments of genius aren't enough to salvage what is mostly a dull time. You're better off sticking with the old "Bean" series or Jacques Tati's "Play Time" to see how this sort of thing is done. 4/10.