Story
Mr Bean (Rowan Atkinson) wins a local parish raffle and the prize is a holiday in Cannes. He takes the Eurostar train to Paris. From there he hurtles headlong into one catastrophe after another. At the Gare du Nord railway station, Bean asks a fellow passenger, Emil Duchevsky (Karel Roden), to film him getting on the train. This causes Emil to miss the train. Emil is in fact a famous film director, whose young son Stepan (Max Baldry) is waiting for him on the train. Emil conveys to Stepan that he should get off at the next station. Bean, feeling responsible, also gets off. Of course, the train that Emil is on doesn’t stop.
Bean and Stepan then go on a journey across France. Along the way, they must raise money because Bean has left his wallet and passport on the station. They stumble onto a film set where Bean falls for an attractive young actor named Sabine (Emma de Caunes). Sabine agrees to drive Bean and Stepan to Cannes. She is also heading there for an opening preview of a movie in which she has a part. On their journey to Cannes, they don’t realise that they are being hunted by the police as suspected kidnappers.
Themes
None of concern
Violence
There is some violence in this movie, mostly slapstick comedy. For example:
- Bean nearly causes a major car crash.
- Stepan hits Bean.
- One scene of a film set is in a French village, which is suddenly attacked by armed soldiers firing rifles.
- Some men hit Bean across the face.
- A man jumps off a bridge to kill himself because he thinks his girlfriend has left him.
Sexual references
None
Alcohol, drugs and other substances
None
Nudity and sexual activity
None
Product placement
None
Coarse language
None
Ideas to discuss with your children
Mr Bean’s Holiday is a lighthearted and entertaining comedy with minimal dialogue and no obvious message. It does present risky behaviour that children might try to imitate.
You may like to talk with your children about some safety issues, such as why it’s not safe to go off with strangers or accept lifts from people you’ve only just met. You could also discuss the ethics of taking a bike that doesn’t belong to you and the real-life consequences of risky behaviours, such as holding onto a vehicle while riding a bike and driving a vehicle when you are too tired.