I have always liked Mr. Bean. His innocence, his naiveté, and his bizarre creativity in the face of adversity are nearly as genius as the genre’s first great star, Buster Keaton. Combine his Keatonesque ability to get into trouble with is perfectly non-Keatonesque expressions (I swear Rowan Atkinson‘s face is made of silly putty) and you get the genius that is Mr. Bean.

Bean would be quite at home in a silent film, but he’s even funnier with sound. He never really talks other than a rare monosyllable like, “Bean!” But his non-verbal expression is hilarious, from frustrated sighs and bored moans to shocked squeals and frantic babble.

Let’s be honest, a lot of people hate Bean. If you don’t “get” his humor, he can easy come off as gratingly fatuous. And his first U.S. released movie, entitled simply, “Bean”, really was bad. If that was your only exposure to Bean, please give Mr. Bean’s Holiday a chance.

In 1997’s Bean, they tried to frame a decidedly American movie around a decidedly British character. It just didn’t work. He talked too much. The plot was contrived and stretched. It wasn’t really Bean.

2007’s Holiday, on the other hand, is exactly and perfectly Bean. The only time I recall him speaking more than one syllable was when he said, “Gracias.” The wackiness is just the right length, never stretched or overstated. It feels very much like his TV shorts, stitched together with a believable plot (ok, believable enough). In short, it works.

Holiday also scored with me on two other points. First, it’s rated G. Yes, G. Remember G? In a time when even cartoon features are coming out as PG-13, it’s nice to know someone understands entertainment for a “general audience”. I can’t remember there being any foul language (although there may have been something in one of Willem Dafoe’s stereotypical, Hollywood-snob rants).

Second, there were gags in the trailers that I didn’t see in the movie, and (more importantly) there were many many things to laugh at in the movie that were not in the trailers. That’s a serious pet peeve of mine so here it becomes praise-worthy.

Okay, this is getting long winded. Let me put my grins where my mouth is. (I think I’ve used that before. Hmm.) I give Mr. Bean’s Holiday a well deserved four grins.

P.S. There are a few of Mr. Bean’s TV shorts on YouTube. Check them out!