Pee-Wee's Big Adventure (1985) 92m.
This got terrible notices when first released but has earned a following, especially by fans of director Tim Burton. The title would have you believing that this is a children's film, and you'd be partway right. It marks the feature debuts of both Burton and its star, Pee-Wee Herman (Paul Reubens). Reubens had previously introduced the Pee-Wee character in a television special and continued with a savvy children's show after his film got attention. In case you haven't seen any of these: Pee-Wee is an adult who behaves like a child and dresses in the types of suits the Beatles might have discarded early in their grooming phase. Basically, he's a boy who never grew up - the 'Big Adventure' of the title echoes Peter Pan's oft-expressed wish to someday experience a Big Adventure. He lives in a glorified playhouse, speaks in a ducky, cartoon-character voice, and treasures a bike as his most valuable possession. The bike turns out to be the catalyst for the story, an EASY RIDER spoof which takes the form of a quest. It's the most suitable plot device for this character, who would probably drive you crazy if he was stuck in the same setting for too long. As Pee-Wee sets off across America to find his bike (which is stolen early in the film) he runs into a series of characters just as two-dimensional as he is. It all ends with a chase, which might seem lazily predictable but makes sense here, as it's an ideal context for the spirited boy-and-bike reunion we've been waiting for.
PEE-WEE's BIG ADVENTURE communicates a genuine sense of eccentricity that keeps it bubbling along. Former Oingo Boingo band member Danny Elfman is a perfect choice for composer, despite his only previous experience being a film score written for his brother; Burton had worked on two quirky animated features for Disney which were shelved; and Pee-Wee's bizarre track record speaks for itself. Together these three outsiders created a product unique in cinema - even the non-Burton sequel BIG TOP PEE-WEE couldn't replicate it. Pee-Wee manages to keep us from disliking him despite his flaws, although strangely we never feel sympathy for him either. Even though he is in every scene of this movie we don't tire of the character because he lets the supporting cast handle most of the dialogue. The film's biggest mistake is to put in a 'meaningful' scene with a roadhouse waitress - it's really only a means to (a) have Pee-Wee menaced by a jealous boyfriend (this doesn't really go anywhere), and (b) have him undergo some kind of learning curve which he reiterates in a phone call to his non-girlfriend (he tells her he's changed, but he plainly hasn't, rendering the scene obsolete - unless the point of it is to prove to us that he will never change). Some years after his films and television appearances as Pee-Wee, Reubens would suffer the embarrassment of being arrested for 'indecent exposure' at a porno house. At the end of PEE-WEE'S BIG ADVENTURE his alter ego Pee-Wee is no more wiser or sophisticated than when he started. Thank goodness.
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