Mr Bean: Amazing Adventures of Mr Bean [VHS]
There's something fishy about Rowan Atkinson's Mr. Bean. Well, sure, he's willing to store a pantry's worth of sandwich ingredients (including butter, lettuce, and live fish) in his jacket. And he's capable of changing out of long pants and into skimpy swim trunks without ever exactly taking his clothes off (an incredible feat of comedic yoga). And he does all this without saying a single word more than a barely comprehensible mutter. Yes, there's something decidedly strange about this bitter buffoon--but something very, very funny about him too. This first collection of Mr. Bean's bizarre sketches collects the cream of the crop; besides the aforementioned swimsuit sequence, there's also a cringingly laughable experience with steak tartar at a posh restaurant, a chaotic plunge into class exam etiquette, a not-so-holier-than-thou napping competition during an afternoon sermon, and a bizarre run-in with the royalty during an upscale film premiere. If you're expecting the same histrionic humor as Atkinson's other well-known alter ego, theBlack Adder, prepare to be pleasantly surprised. Mr. Bean, at his best, displays a masterful mixture of subtle wit and slapstick, proving you don't need to say a word to craft a diabolically witty comeback--or dig yourself deeper and deeper into the silliest, strangest situations.--Grant Balfour