REEL CRITICS:’Mr. Bean’s Holiday’ not high brow, but it’s still funny

Rowan Atkinson has made a nice living for himself as the stumbling, bumbling Mr. Bean, a modern English version of Charlie Chaplin. He parades across the screen with minimal dialogue and loads of slapstick physical comedy. In “Mr. Bean’s Holiday” there’s no shortage of pratfalls and assorted silliness that manages to produce many chuckles and laughs.

In a classic mix of comedy themes, Mr. Bean is a fish-out-of-water, innocent abroad on a vacation-gone-bad who is also falsely accused of a heinous crime. His holiday in France turns into a wild ride of unexpected twists and turns. Achieving comic resolution to all these problems is the core of the screenplay.

Atkinson’s rubber face and rubber limbs provide fertile ground for the numerous sight gags that generate most of the laughs. Repetition takes its toll as the same kind of joke occurs over and over. It’s a welcome change from the raunchy foul mouthed teen comedies that have become all too common.

 ’Diaries is bland, with few surprises

Moviegoers lured by trailers for “The Nanny Diaries” might be led to believe it’s a comedy. The film tries to fulfill that promise, but comes off almost as soulless as the Park Avenue socialites it’s trying to satire.

Adapted from the popular “chick lit” book, “Diaries” is the tale of Annie (a bland Scarlett Johanssen), a business and anthropology grad who’s not sure what she wants to be when she grows up. A chance encounter with very rich, very blonde Mrs. X (Laura Linney) suddenly finds her flooded with offers to become a nanny.

The pay is good and, lured by promises of tony lunches and shopping expeditions with her employer, Annie decides to go for it.

If you’ve seen last year’s “The Devil Wears Prada” then you basically know where this story is going — there are very few surprises.

Within days, Annie manages to bond with her 5-year-old charge, Grayer X, by spoon-feeding him PB & J. And naturally, there’s a very hunky neighbor who likes the way Annie looks in a Betsy Ross costume.

The best things going for “Diaries” are the opening sequence, with dioramas of Upper East Side social specimens posed like prehistoric figures, and Laura Linney.

Always terrific at playing uptight, Linney manages to play an icy, diamond-crusted Stepford wife and vulnerable, humiliated woman with equal savoir faire.