[PEE-WEE’S BIG
HOLIDAY is now streaming on Netflix instant.]
Review by Bob Ignizio
Released in 1985, PEE-WEE’S
BIG ADVENTURE took cult comedian Paul Reubens and made him and his
signature character, Pee-wee Herman, a star, launching the directorial career
of Tim Burton, to boot. Reubens capitalized on the film’s success with the kid’s
Saturday morning TV show ‘Pee-wee’s Playhouse’ that ran for five seasons from
1986 to 1990. Both endeavors were critical and popular successes that appealed
to the masses, yet still maintained a certain level of cult cachet.
Unfortunately, Pee-wee’s second big screen outing, BIG TOP PEE-WEE, was mediocre at best.
A pair of high profile scandals (neither of which, in this author’s opinion,
should have even been news, let alone criminal cases) didn’t exactly help his
career as a children’s entertainer, either. So Reubens continued acting, with
memorable supporting roles in films like BLOW
and MYSTERY MEN, but the Pee-wee
Herman character was retired. Until now.
Although still playing the same Pee-wee Herman we know and
love, Reubens’ script acts as if the previous movies (and, one assumes, TV
show) never happened. This Pee-wee has never had a big adventure or joined the
circus. In fact, he’s never left his stuck in a time warp small town of
Fairvale, where he works as a short order cook at the local greasy spoon. That
all changes when Joe Manganiello (playing himself) walks in and orders a
chocolate milkshake with a root beer barrel chaser. He and Pee-wee sense in
each other kindred souls, and so Manganiello invites Pee-wee to his birthday
party in New York City. Now if Pee-wee wants to pursue his man crush, he’ll
have to leave the comfort of home and hit the open road. Adventure and
silliness ensue.
PEE-WEE’S BIG HOLIDAY
tries really hard to recapture the oddball magic of BIG ADVENTURE, and at times it does. But director John Lee just
doesn’t commit to the alternate reality of Pee-wee’s universe as wholeheartedly
(or creatively) as Burton did. Sure, bits like the opening dream sequence with
a female E.T., or the trio of bank robbing bad girls (Jessica Pohly, Stephanie
Beatriz, and Alia Shawkat) paying homage to Russ Meyer’s FASTER, PUSSYCAT! KILL! KILL! are in that vein, but there’s never
the same sense of crazy possibility, where anything could happen in this film’s
reality, that permeates BIG ADVENTURE.
Fortunately, Reubens, despite the passage of time, can still
channel his eternal manboy perfectly. He doesn’t play the part, he inhabits it.
His voice is a little different, and you can see he’s put on a few pounds (not
too many, but you can tell), but overall this is still the same Pee-wee we know
and love. It’s nowhere near in danger of being the sort of multiple viewing
worthy cult classic that BIG ADVENTURE
was, but for a straight to Netflix nostalgia trip it’s at least as good, and
maybe even a little better, than we had any right to expect. 3 out of 4 stars.
BIG TOP PEE WEE, whatever its deficits, supposedly had a great admirer in Bob Dylan. He seemed especially taken with the Kris Kristofferson character having a wife small enough to be carried around in a pocket. Who am I to argue with that?
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