Rowan Atkinson Live!
by Thomas Schlamme
List Price:
Our Price: $9.97
You Save: $9.98 (50%)
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Buy Used: from $6.02 (click here)
Category: DVD
See more DVD releases
Buy this DVD movie at online store in your country
Canada
Canada
DVD Cover Information
Actor: Angus Deayton, Rowan AtkinsonDirector: Thomas Schlamme
Brand: A and E Home Video
Writer: Rowan Atkinson
Editor: Jon Vesey
Producer: Jason Harper
Writer: Ben Elton
Writer: Richard Curtis
DVD: Region Code 1
Audio: English (Unknown); English (Original Language)
Format: Color, DVD, NTSC
Picture Format: 1.33:1
Running Time: 55 minutes
DVD Release Date: 2007-08-14
Audience Rating: NR (Not Rated)
Studio: A&E Home Video
Movie Reviews of Rowan Atkinson Live!
Movie Review: Essential Rowan
Summary: 5 Stars
Rowan Atkinson Live
I first saw this on cable several years ago. Anyone who enjoys Rowan Atkinson's comedic talents is in for a good time with this program. Recorded during a performance in Boston in 1991, it includes some classic irreverent jabs at British schools, religion, and social conventions. Atkinson appears supported by Angus Deayton as his straight man and narrator. Some routines are better than others, but humor is about as subjective as anything can get, so the bits that I didn't like as much might be the best things on the disk to someone else.
My favorite moments include "A Warm Welcome", in which Rowan plays the Devil as a polite, somewhat smarmy host in a smoking jacket welcoming the Damned - which ends up being just about everyone - to Hell. Some of the groups who are damned wholesale are startling and hilarious. "With Friends Like These..." involves Deayton narrating the horrors of his wedding day, with Atkinson portraying, in rapid succession, the lecherous priest who did the honors, his sillyass best man giving an incoherent and incriminating speech at the reception, and his new and utterly drunken father-in-law giving a heartfelt toast to the man he thinks his daughter should have married and an irreversible rejection of the groom's family. I spurn you as I would spurn a rabid dog... "Pink Tights and Plenty of Props" features Deayton as a professor of theatre giving a lecture on classic performance while Atkinson acts out the instructions on stage. It defies description without giving its best moments away, so I'll simply say it left me gasping. Other routines highlight Atkinson's considerable talent as a visual comedian - "It Started with a Sneeze" showed up in a Mr. Bean program later. In "Invisible Man" he mimes the reaction of a tube rider as the titular character messes with him mercilessly, and in "A Final Bash" he plays a janitor who accidentally discovers an invisible drum kit and, after groping around trying to figure out what's what, ends up playing them flawlessly in pantomime.
The three deleted skits that are included with the DVD are of the same high quality. "Elementary Courting for Men" is my favorite of these, with Deayton again delivering the lecture and Rowan acting out the do's and don't's of a perfect date. When Deayton advises "Not to look like a complete idiot when she opens the door", a door swings open on the stage to reveal Atkinson looking more idiotic than ever before or since. "Guys after the Game" has Atkinson alone on stage as an exquisitely polite maitre de at an Indian restaurant that has been besieged by drunken football hooligans. "Tom, Dick, and Harry" features Atkinson, for the third time in the program, as a clergyman delivering the eulogy for Tom - blind and deaf - Dick - deaf and dumb - and Harry - blind and dumb - who have died together in a freak accident. The punchline is his prediction of Tom's contribution to the Angels' Choir when the three of them reach Heaven and I suggest that you swallow whatever you're drinking before he speaks it.
This is a mandatory program for Rowan Atkinson fans and would be a great introduction to his work for the uninitiated.
Summary of Rowan Atkinson Live!
ROWAN ATKINSON LIVE - DVD MovieSimilar DVD Movies
Rowan Atkinson Presents: Canned LaughterRelease date: 2011-08-23; DVD
Best price: $8.63
Price in other shops:
The Best of Mr. BeanA and E Home Video; Release date: 2006-08-29; DVD
Best price: $3.97
Price in other shops:
The Best of Not the 9 O'Clock NewsA&E; Release date: 2006-03-28; DVD
Best price: $5.99
Price in other shops:
Artist Not Provided - Mr. Bean Double Feature (The Movie / Johnny English)UNI DIST CORP. (MCA); Release date: 2007-08-14; DVD
Best price: $5.44
Price in other shops:
Mr. Bean's Most Memorable MomentsA and E Home Video; Release date: 2010-03-16; DVD
Best price: $6.69
Price in other shops:
The Thin Blue Line: The Complete Line-UpWarner Brothers; Release date: 2004-06-15; Published: 2004-06-01; DVD
Best price: $38.88
Price in other shops:
Johnny English (Widescreen Edition)Universal Studios; Release date: 2004-01-13; Published: 2004-01-01; DVD
Best price: $9.20
Price in other shops:
Mr. Bean's Holiday (Widescreen Edition)Universal Studios; Release date: 2007-11-27; Published: 2007-11-01; DVD
Best price: $6.25
Price in other shops:
Mr. Bean: The Ultimate CollectionA&E; Release date: 2008-12-16; DVD
Best price: $35.91
Price in other shops:
Mr. Bean - The Whole Bean (Complete Set)A&E; Release date: 2003-04-29; DVD
Best price: $11.00
Price in other shops: