The new year approaches, and people are probably still on vacation, especially the kids. It’s time for another family holiday review, and this time we turn our attention to Rowan Atkinson in Mr. Bean’s Holiday. This disc came out in late November so it’s still fairly new on HD DVD, and it’s also a movie that’s possibly playing in those dollar movie theaters in case you want (or need) to get everyone out of the house.

In this episode of the continuing saga of Mr. Bean, our hero has won a raffle ticket which sends him to France, fully equipped with a video camera to record his adventures. Those of you familiar with Mr. Bean can probably already think of at least a few ways that this goofball could get into trouble in a foreign country where he doesn’t speak the language, and Rowan Atkinson and the crew have come up with even dozens more hilarious situations than that.

The first part of the misadventure begins with Mr. Bean getting into the wrong taxi as he leaves for his luxury hotel. Upon switching to travel by train, Mr. Bean accidentally separates a Russian boy (Max Baldry) from his father, and gains an unexpected companion. The two don’t speak each other’s language, nor do they speak a word of French, and they are eventually separated when Mr. Bean’s bus ticket gets lost.

Though they’re later reunited, the separation gives Mr. Bean a chance to get into more trouble as he stumbles upon a French movie set and befriends an actress (Emma De Cauner). In time, they meet the Russian boy at a stop in the road, and it turns out that the boy’s father is actually a famous movie director in town for the Cannes Film Festival. Cannes happens to be Mr. Bean’s original destination in France, and the actress was headed to the festival any way. As luck would have it, we can resolve the entire plot with the conclusion of a single road trip!

Of course, it could never be as simple as all that. For one thing, the authorities think Mr. Bean has kidnapped the boy, and there’s an interesting plot twist and ending involving Mr. Bean’s camcorder as they try to reunite the boy with his father at the film festival.

When watching a more serious movie like a James Bond title, one needs to make a lot of allowances for why evil villains can’t just “take care” of that British spy right away. You have to make a lot of those same kinds of allowances when watching Mr. Bean get into all of his silly troubles. Mr. Bean shows sparks of brilliance in his problem-solving skills, but he should probably never have gotten into those situations in the first place. If you allow yourself to accept Mr. Bean’s brand of logic, his humor is quite entertaining.

Mr. Bean’s Holiday has great picture and audio quality, though those aren’t necessarily required or expected from this kind of disc. There aren’t any special high-def kinds of extras, and the bonus materials are essentially the same as those you’d get on a regular DVD. I guess they figured that kids aren’t necessarily interested in watching picture-in-picture commentary and getting inside the director’s head with a movie like this, so they save the better bonus features for other movies.

In the end, it’s a great family movie to watch during the holidays. Buy it, rent it, or catch it at one of those discount movie theaters — you can’t go wrong, and you won’t be disappointed.

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