`BEAN'S' RIDICULOUS ANTICS MAKE FOR BELLY LAUGHS.

Byline: Bob Strauss Daily News Film Critic

``Bean'' has arrived, and it's rather disturbing.

By now you've heard about the comedy phenomenon - begun on British television and continued in a film that's already grossed $125 million worldwide - or else you've admirably avoided Gramercy Pictures' scorched-earth promotional campaign. But it isn't the fact that Rowan Atkinson's slapstick creation is being shoved down our throats like some kind of international U.N. laugh-producing program that's so alarming.

The real upset comes once you get a good look at the world's favorite clown on the big screen, and you realize he's a grotesque spaz. Even more unnerving, you find yourself laughing at his goofy antics despite anything you thought was part of your better nature.

Actually, established fans of ``Mr. Bean'' - those who mistook Atkinson's TV schtick for sophisticated comedy because it only ran here on PBS, HBO and less-watched cable stations - have been expressing some disappointment with the movie ``Bean.'' Though the same character, the man of few words (but abundant other bodily sounds) talks more and is more aware of his anarchic behavior's consequences on the big screen, he's not such a mean Bean.

Still, this kinder, more socialized Bean is pretty creepy. To enable viewers to stand him in a bigger-than-life context, director Mel Smith (``The Tall Guy'') and writers Richard Curtis and Robin Driscoll wisely opted to make the character marginally more human.

They've put him in a more real place, too, and it says something about the nature of ``Mr. Bean's'' television universe that a sitcom-style L.A. comes off natural by comparison.

In the movie, we discover Bean actually has a job: He sits in a London gallery, looking at the paintings and fooling with his own mucous. Naturally, the staff can't wait to get rid of him (for some unclear reason that mercifully remains so, the boss loves Bean). So when a new California museum purchases ``Whistler's Mother'' and requests an expert speaker for the unveiling, guess who they send?

Since Mr. Bean is essentially an idiot, he demolishes the happy home of his jittery host, David Langley (Peter MacNicol), before getting onto the real work of ruining the priceless painting (yes, mucous is involved). Meanwhile, suspense builds as the hour approaches for the man who communicates with snorts, gurgles and growls to deliver his speech.

I'd stop short of calling Atkinson a brilliant physical comedian. He knows how to do funny things with his body, no question, but he rarely comes close to the amazing, acrobatic invention of Buster Keaton, Charlie Chaplin or even France's latter-day silent clown Jacques Tati.

Atkinson's real gift, however, is for contorting his face into twitchy gargoyle masks. At this, he makes Jim Carrey look like, well, Buster Keaton. Just his expressions as he tries to stuff a turkey (yes, it ends up on his head) turn the old hat comic routine into something ticklingly watchable and oddly dangerous.

The film around Mr. Bean boasts some nice satiric touches, like the way the L.A. museum looks like a Tinkertoy travesty of the proposed Disney Concert Hall. But the main show is still Bean's tongue-shaving, underwear-ironing, benign yet pervo-cretinish behavior.

Hey, the world is laughing at it. Why should we be worried?

THE FACTS

The film: ``Bean'' (PG-13; obscene gestures).

The stars: Rowan Atkinson, Peter MacNicol, Pamela Reed, Harris Yulin and Burt Reynolds.

Behind the scenes: Directed by Mel Smith. Written by Richard Curtis and Robin Driscoll. Produced by Peter Bennett-Jones, Eric Fellner and Tim Bevan. Released by Gramercy Pictures.

Running time: One hour, 31 minutes.

Playing: Citywide.

Our rating: Three Stars.

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Photo

Photo: Rowan Atkinson lets loose with plenty of facial contortions and bodily noises as Mr. Bean comes to the big screen in ``Bean.''