Pee-wee's Big Adventure (B+ or 3/4 stars)
Pee-wee Herman was an acquired taste ... to say the very least. But something about this wackadoo character caught on with the public after Tim Burton's 1985 zany comedy, 'Pee-wee's Big Adventure' and, thusly, a hit TV series starring Paul Reubens as Pee-wee Herman ensued for several years. Pee-wee is quirky, odd, and a man-child that can be hard to take. To that, I highly enjoyed this nutty movie; chock full of bizarre set pieces, fantastical adventures & intriguing visuals. But I also would not begrudge anyone for not being able to handle 90 minutes locked-in with this character, ha.
This movie's plot is quite simple: Pee-wee Herman, an eccentric, happy-go-lucky, yet fairly imbecilic adult male stuck in a perpetual state of childhood ... leaves his house full of toys & gadgets to go a searchin' for his beloved stolen red bicycle; a bicycle which he assumes is taken by his nasty, immature, & envious arch enemy neighbor, Francis Buxton (Mark Holton). The narrative follows the blueprint of a fun road trip flick, but this is the kind of warped odyssey that you might expect to come from the mind of David Lynch, not necessarily Tim Burton; strange as he is, too. Along his determined journey {with his dog, Speck, in tow}, Pee-wee encounters a plethora of strange characters & finds himself mired in dubious situations.
After failing to reciprocate the amorous feelings from bike shop employee friend, Dottie (Elizabeth Daily, sweet), Pee-wee finds himself in a traveling car with an escaped convict named Mickey (Judd Omen), spends time in a truck with a ghostly apparition named Large Marge (Alice Nunn), is chased around a roadside dinosaur statue by a jealous boyfriend of a waitress named Simone (Diane Salinger), visits the Alamo in San Antonio, Texas {where a fortune teller told him that his bike would be located}, becomes a bull rider {... naturally}, dances in high heels atop a saloon counter to the song "Tequila" in a biker's bar, and then gets to see his 'looking for my bike' story made into an actual motion picture starring one, James Brolin. Cramming alllll of these often demented sequences into one 90 minute whole may work for its fans, but could be way too much of a good thing for naysayers.
I enjoyed this film VERY much as a child, but can see that a quintessential issue with it would be the annoyance factor of the title character. When viewed for a 30 minute show in which 12 minutes of that is relegated to commercials, Paul Reubens' comedic antics can be swallowed easier. So by the midpoint of the film, the wide-eyed naivete & boundless puppy dog energy can start to grate. Pee-wee is a clown; period. But clowns DO provoke laughter. It's just about how much your mileage may vary on Paul Reubens. Witnessing him is like witnessing a live-action cartoon. And though, on its surface, the Reubens' performance is "likeable', there IS an undercurrent of slightly unnerving, malevolence circling around him.
For better or worse, 'PWBA' is SO different from your typical Hollywood dark comedies, that most people should rightly praise the chances that are taken, and that the film doesn't play by the usual cinematic rules. The tone vacillates all over the place. And the movie gets weirder as it goes until anything resembling reality has left the proverbial building -- but that's part of its charm. There is no way to know what is going to happen from scene to scene. Speaking of one such scene, my favorite {in a sea of 'em} is Pee-wee's fanciful exploit in Large Marge's truck. Large Marge: "On this very night, 10 yrs. ago, along this same stretch of road in a dense fog just like this ... I saw the worst accident I ever seen. There was this sound, like a garbage truck dropped off the Empire State Building {cut to a few minutes later} and when they finally pulled the driver's body from the twisted, burning wreck ... it looked like this!!! {She then turns to Pee-wee & makes a startling grotesque face}. Pee-wee: "Aaaaggghhh!!!" Large Marge: "Yes, Sir! The worst accident I ever seen" {end scene}. Ya gotta see it to believe it, folks.
'Pee-wee's Big Adventure' has the distinction of being Tim Burton's 1st feature length directorial effort, and it is also one of Danny Elfman's 1st efforts as film composer. The music is enjoyably cooky. And Tim Burton's visual imagination is a perfect fit for Pee-wee's fantastical escapades. Subsequent movie sequels were quite disappointing. And the light has dimmed greatly over the years for Paul Reubens after his arrest for indecency. All that said, this oft perplexing, narratively scattershot comedy still offers great moments of entertainment and dollops of nostalgia for the fan writing this review.
This movie's plot is quite simple: Pee-wee Herman, an eccentric, happy-go-lucky, yet fairly imbecilic adult male stuck in a perpetual state of childhood ... leaves his house full of toys & gadgets to go a searchin' for his beloved stolen red bicycle; a bicycle which he assumes is taken by his nasty, immature, & envious arch enemy neighbor, Francis Buxton (Mark Holton). The narrative follows the blueprint of a fun road trip flick, but this is the kind of warped odyssey that you might expect to come from the mind of David Lynch, not necessarily Tim Burton; strange as he is, too. Along his determined journey {with his dog, Speck, in tow}, Pee-wee encounters a plethora of strange characters & finds himself mired in dubious situations.
After failing to reciprocate the amorous feelings from bike shop employee friend, Dottie (Elizabeth Daily, sweet), Pee-wee finds himself in a traveling car with an escaped convict named Mickey (Judd Omen), spends time in a truck with a ghostly apparition named Large Marge (Alice Nunn), is chased around a roadside dinosaur statue by a jealous boyfriend of a waitress named Simone (Diane Salinger), visits the Alamo in San Antonio, Texas {where a fortune teller told him that his bike would be located}, becomes a bull rider {... naturally}, dances in high heels atop a saloon counter to the song "Tequila" in a biker's bar, and then gets to see his 'looking for my bike' story made into an actual motion picture starring one, James Brolin. Cramming alllll of these often demented sequences into one 90 minute whole may work for its fans, but could be way too much of a good thing for naysayers.
I enjoyed this film VERY much as a child, but can see that a quintessential issue with it would be the annoyance factor of the title character. When viewed for a 30 minute show in which 12 minutes of that is relegated to commercials, Paul Reubens' comedic antics can be swallowed easier. So by the midpoint of the film, the wide-eyed naivete & boundless puppy dog energy can start to grate. Pee-wee is a clown; period. But clowns DO provoke laughter. It's just about how much your mileage may vary on Paul Reubens. Witnessing him is like witnessing a live-action cartoon. And though, on its surface, the Reubens' performance is "likeable', there IS an undercurrent of slightly unnerving, malevolence circling around him.
For better or worse, 'PWBA' is SO different from your typical Hollywood dark comedies, that most people should rightly praise the chances that are taken, and that the film doesn't play by the usual cinematic rules. The tone vacillates all over the place. And the movie gets weirder as it goes until anything resembling reality has left the proverbial building -- but that's part of its charm. There is no way to know what is going to happen from scene to scene. Speaking of one such scene, my favorite {in a sea of 'em} is Pee-wee's fanciful exploit in Large Marge's truck. Large Marge: "On this very night, 10 yrs. ago, along this same stretch of road in a dense fog just like this ... I saw the worst accident I ever seen. There was this sound, like a garbage truck dropped off the Empire State Building {cut to a few minutes later} and when they finally pulled the driver's body from the twisted, burning wreck ... it looked like this!!! {She then turns to Pee-wee & makes a startling grotesque face}. Pee-wee: "Aaaaggghhh!!!" Large Marge: "Yes, Sir! The worst accident I ever seen" {end scene}. Ya gotta see it to believe it, folks.
'Pee-wee's Big Adventure' has the distinction of being Tim Burton's 1st feature length directorial effort, and it is also one of Danny Elfman's 1st efforts as film composer. The music is enjoyably cooky. And Tim Burton's visual imagination is a perfect fit for Pee-wee's fantastical escapades. Subsequent movie sequels were quite disappointing. And the light has dimmed greatly over the years for Paul Reubens after his arrest for indecency. All that said, this oft perplexing, narratively scattershot comedy still offers great moments of entertainment and dollops of nostalgia for the fan writing this review.