Though the film features several art historians and Whistler's portrait of
his mother plays a key role, the painting is never once referred to by its
actual title, "Arrangement in Black and Gray No. 1 (The Artist's Mother),"
which Robert Hughes points out was deliberately intended to contradict
family values sentimentality.  Since that's the baldly stated theme of the
film, maybe it's no surprise the title was omitted.  (One woman behind me
said she much preferred this comedy to "American slapstick" which indicates
that if "Bean" is even moderately successful that Americans prefer their
Jerry Lewis films watered down to insipidity.  The only clever moment in
"Bean" occurs after all the credits are over, if you can stay that long.)
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Lang Thompson
http://members.aol.com/wlt4/index.htm
 
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Screen-L is sponsored by the Telecommunication & Film Dept., the
University of Alabama.