Bean (film)

Mr. Bean is a well-meaning yet clumsy and destructive security guard working at the National Gallery in London. The gallery's board of directors, who despise Bean for sleeping on the job, wish to fire him but are thwarted by their chairman. The board instead selects Bean as their representative for the transfer of James McNeill Whistler's 1871 portrait Arrangement in Grey and Black No.1 (also called Whistler's Mother) to the Grierson Art Gallery in Los Angeles following its purchase by philanthropist General Newton for $50 million. Grierson's curator David Langley, who is impressed with the false profile of "Dr. Bean", volunteers to accommodate Bean at his house for two months despite the opposition of David's wife Alison, his son Kevin and daughter Jennifer. After Bean encounters mishaps with the airport police and accidentally breaks a family heirloom, Alison leaves for her mother's house along with Kevin and Jennifer.

David begins to question Bean's status as an art expert after a visit to Pacific Park, where Bean is arrested after rigging the control panel of a simulator ride to make it more exciting. After Bean ruins a dinner party with the gallery's owner and his wife, David questions him and discovers that Bean knows nothing about art.

After accidentally staining the Whistler painting at the gallery with an ink-soaked handkerchief, Bean unwittingly removes the original paint from the woman's face by using paint thinner. He tries to draw the face with a pen, and David is horrified when he sees the result.

Fearing that he will lose his job and possibly face criminal charges, David becomes despondent and gets drunk, though his family returns out of pity. At night, Bean sneaks into the gallery, distracts the guard, and replaces the defaced painting with a reprinted poster coated in egg white to make the poster look authentic, and the deception fools everyone at the opening. Forced to make a speech, Bean's bumbling words somehow win the crowd's approval.

David rushes to the hospital after learning that Jennifer has been in a motorcycle accident. Bean wanders around the hospital and is mistaken for a doctor. Forced into a surgery room, Bean removes a bullet from the cop who had interrogated him at the airport, saving his life. David then begs Bean, whom he does not recognize because Bean is wearing a surgical mask, to help his daughter. After an accident with a defibrillator sends Bean flying and landing on Jennifer, she awakens from her unconscious state. Grateful for having their daughter back, David and Alison are surprised when Bean reveals his true identity. At Bean's suggestion, they repay him by allowing him to stay with them for another week. Also, Mr. Bean learns the middle finger but mistakes it for a greeting, using it everywhere he goes inappropriately.

Bean returns to London, where his bedroom is now decorated with photos of himself and the Langleys, as well as the original Whistler painting that he smuggled back with him.

• Rowan Atkinson as Mr. Bean
• Peter MacNicol as David Langley
• John Mills as Chairman
• Pamela Reed as Alison Langley
• Harris Yulin as George Grierson
• Burt Reynolds as General Newton
• Richard Gant as Lieutenant Brutus
• Larry Drake as Elmer
• Sandra Oh as Bernice Schimmel
• Danny Goldring as Security Buck
• Johnny Galecki as Stingo Wheelie
• Chris Ellis as Detective Butler
• Andrew Lawrence as Kevin Langley
• Peter Egan as Lord Walton
• Peter Capaldi as Gareth
• June Brown as Delilah
• Peter James as Doctor Rosenblum
• Tricia Vessey as Jennifer Langley
• Tom McGowan as Walter Huntley

The film's score is composed and conducted by Howard Goodall, who also wrote the music for the television series. The original Mr. Bean theme was not used. Cover versions on the soundtrack album include the Beatles' "Yesterday" (sung by Wet Wet Wet), the OMC cover of "I Love L.A." (though Randy Newman's original version is the one heard in the film), and Alice Cooper's "Elected", performed by Iron Maiden lead singer Bruce Dickinson. "Elected" features sound dubs of Mr. Bean making campaign promises and was previously used in Comic Relief in 1992.

Boyzone released a single from the film titled "Picture of You."

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