Bean there, done that. Rowan Atkinson, whose claim to fame has been playing the oddball Mr. Bean since the late '80s, is now working for Her Royal Majesty's secret service as Johnny English, a bumbling spy guy (who's based on an old, British credit card-commercial character, by the way). Director Peter Howitt, obviously taking great pains to emulate The Pink Panther, stumbles through a story about a British Crown Jewel heist, making English little more than a collection of good moments.
And while you don't have to be a super sleuth to see the over-obvious gags coming, Atkinson's elastic mugging usually pulls 'em through. A formidable foe stealing laughs, John Malkovich plays a French villain whose most dangerous weapon is his accent. Still, in the end, this 007 adds up to a just-okay time.