Typically Uneven

A couple of things that are good (like Deep Water), a few more that are not-so-good (like Mr. Bean's Holiday). In other words, just another week in the world of film criticism. However, I can say that a more-or-less unqualified rave (related to next month's New York Film Festival) should hopefully be on its way in the near future.

Cliffhanger!

This Weekend:
War (Slant magazine)
Illegal Tender (Cinematical)
Dedication (Cinematical)
Mr. Bean's Holiday (Slant magazine)
The Hottest State (Slant magazine)
Deep Water (Slant magazine)

Following Weekends:
Balls of Fury (Slant magazine)
Fierce People (Slant magazine)
Mr. Untouchable (Slant magazine)

Comments

[Joe Grossberg]

Oh, jeez ... who did you insult at "Slant" to get the Mr. Bean assignment? I only clicked on the review to see if you gave it one or zero stars.

What I don't understand is this:
* the BBC show was great
* the first movie was horrible
* ???

With step 3, Sacha Baron-Cohen took creative control, stuck (more or less) to his roots, and was a huge success.

So why, with his own step 3, would Rowan Atkinson repeat the awful formula of his previous big-screen failure?

[Joe Grossberg]

Oh yeah, I hope "Brian Bean" sees these trailers and has nightmares about us taunting him.

[Nick]

Got me. I understand why, in theory, someone would think Bean was funny. But in practice, I just find his humor far too broad and simplistic.

I miss our Mr. Bean. His telling a kid at M & T's wedding about the birds and the bees (and about his mom's alcoholism) is still one of the funniest unexpected things I've ever witnessed.

[rich]

damn you and your cliffhangers, nick!

[Andres Zambrano]

Not to my surprise, that film, one that, indeed, does look quite good, is already in the SLANT preview section:

http://www.slantmagazine.com/film/film_review.asp?ID=3156

Closing Night, 45 NYFF. :-D