Dan's Media Digest

IS MR BEAN STILL FUNNY?

Rowan Atkinson is deserving of his comedy legend status. Blackadder alone guarantees entry into our Hall Of Fame. I also really enjoyed Mr Bean in his 90s heyday, but I was glad when the TV series was canned when the quality plummeted.

The first Mr Bean movie (1997) disappointed me greatly. The great trailers promised so much, but we just ended up with a silly mess meant to appeal to the Yanks. Still, it has somehow spawned a sequel, 10 years later, in the shape of Mr Bean's Holiday.

But is Bean funny now? Do we care about rubber-faced Rowan? Atkinson's output has inconsistent post-Mr Bean; mundane sitcom The Thin Blue Line, some funny Barclaycard adverts and their movie spin-off Johnny English, frivolous cameos in other movies like Love, Actually and full-blown flops like Keeping Mum.

The fact is Rowan Atkinson is one of Britain's most underused comedy legends, never able to top the written quality of Blackadder or find a better outlet for his physicality other than Mr Bean.

Atkinson must feel there's still mileage in Bean's silent comedy. I suppose the character still has its diehard fans, but I suspect Europe will be more welcoming than us Brits. The France setting is no accident, as the French have always had a soft spot for Bean's brand of visual humour (indeed, Bean was even inspired by Jacques Tati's Monsieur Hulot).

Watching trailers to Mr Bean's Holiday didn't fill me with hope for a quality film (dancing to a Shaggy track is at least 10 years too late to be funny, Rowan), but I did get a whiff of nostalgia for Mr Bean's earlier antics.

I don't think the new film will be a big hit, despite its carefully planned Easter release. It will do okay business thanks to youngsters and Rowan's fans here, but that's about it. I'll catch it on TV in a few years.

Anyway, here's a piece of Bean greatness that was shown in cinemas before films began awhile ago. You probably haven't seen this...