Bean
Gramercy Pictures (I) | Release Date: November 7, 1997 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
52
METASCORE
Mixed or average reviews based on 20 Critic Reviews
Positive:
9
Mixed:
9
Negative:
2
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Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
80
The New York TimesLawrence Van Gelder
But while rooted in British sensibilities, Bean is not to be confused with a Noel Coward comedy. Not every gag in Bean succeeds, but compared with most comedies, this one is a keeper. Read full review
75
San Francisco ChroniclePeter Stack
Some of the middle section of Bean sags, but most of the film zips along with a series of comic setups, played like skits, that emphasize Bean's klutziness, his feeble mentality, his childlike, me-too urges. Read full review
75
San Francisco ExaminerBarbara Shulgasser
To enumerate exactly how Bean messes up would be to expose the silliness of this movie, and since Bean's humor is terribly silly, rather, wonderfully silly, there isn't much point in going into detail. Read full review
75
Christian Science MonitorDavid Sterritt
But there's no denying the movie's frequent hilarity, abetted by Mel Smith's superbly laid-back directing and on-target performances by an excellent supporting cast. Read full review
75
Entertainment WeeklyLisa Schwarzbaum
In this slapdash production directed by Mel Smith ("The Tall Guy" but also, alas, "Radioland Murders"), written by Richard Curtis ("Four Weddings") and Robin Driscoll, there's just enough unrepentant self-centeredness missing to take the hilariously brutish edge off Bean's game for those who know him. Read full review
70
Washington PostDesson Thomson
The movie feels stretched out and thin. Read full review
70
Los Angeles TimesJack Mathews
The idea of Bean fitting into this situation, even disastrously, requires more than suspension of disbelief. It requires a full blackout of reasoning. But for the converted, and for people with a low threshold for visual comedy, Bean amounts to a hill of laughs. Read full review
63
ReelViewsJames Berardinelli
While Bean branches out from the format developed for the television series, it remains faithful to the concepts and constructs that led to its success. Read full review
63
Chicago Sun-TimesRoger Ebert
There are many moments here that are very funny, but the film as a whole is a bit too long. Read full review
60
SalonCharles Taylor
Whatever the reason, Bean saddles Atkinson with a story that hangs on him like a dead weight and a filmmaking style that surrounds him like dead air. Read full review
60
VarietyDavid Stratton
Atkinson, who is in almost every scene, boasts a full-on comic personality that on the cinema screen is a bit daunting at times, and it's an open question as to whether the Carrey crowd will go for this seriously eccentric Brit. Read full review
50
The Globe and Mail (Toronto)Liam Lacey
Bean falls well short of a work of genius. Indeed, the unbearable slightness of Bean feels like nothing so much as a betrayal of the television series on which it is based. Read full review
50
New York Daily NewsDave Kehr
Nevertheless, Bean has been a huge hit in Europe, where it opened last summer, and it may contain enough laughs to work here. Well enough, one hopes, to produce a funnier, sharper, better crafted "Bean 2." [07Nov1997 Pg.63]
40
Austin ChronicleMarc Savlov
There are only so many pratfalls you can string together sans storyline and keep a ball like this rolling, and unfortunately, too many of Bean's schticks were old news by the time they first aired on PBS. Read full review
40
The A.V. ClubMaria Schneider
When Atkinson tries to stretch familiar Beanisms into 80 minutes, the results are mostly unsatisfying. Read full review
40
Chicago ReaderLisa Alspector
Rowan Atkinson's recalcitrant TV character is the hub of this 1997 feature that will disappoint fans and nonfans alike. Read full review
40
Dallas ObserverPeter Rainer
Bean represents a dismal dumbing-down of a very bright creation. Is nothing sacred? Read full review
40
L.A. WeeklyElla Taylor
This is not comedy - it's mugging. And there's no excuse for making Bean cuddly; he only works with an evil edge. Read full review
30
TV Guide MagazineMaitland McDonagh
Depending on your taste, either much hilarity or a tedious barrage of tasteless, juvenile pranking ensues. Trust your instincts. Read full review
25
USA TodaySusan Wloszczyna
At a certain point, Bean goes beyond awful to surreally awful, like the rug Burt Reynolds sports in a cameo. The last-ditch plunge into pathos does nothing to redeem the feeling. Let's hope no sequel is in the offing. The only thing worse than Bean would be a hill of Beans. [07Nov1997 Pg08.D]
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