Pee-Wee's Big Adventure 1985
Last week, Paul Reubens, who portrayed Pee-Wee Herman, died. Maybe as a tribute, the digital version of this movie went on sale and I decided I should get it. I have friends who absolutely love this movie. I remember seeing it sometime around when it came out and not being that impressed, but enjoying it. Before the movie came out I remember seeing Pee-Wee as a frequent guest on David Letterman. He was so weird, but also creative, and just kind of fun to watch. Reading about this movie, Reubens and Warner Brothers picked Tim Burton to direct his first feature length movie (having directed the original live action Frankenweenie short (that got Burton fired from Disney) and and an animated short, Vincent). Tim Burton asked Danny Elfman to write the score, a first for him. It is amazing all of these people came together to make this silly movie. There is a very large cast, so you would think some of them would have gone on to further greatness, but for the most part, not really. The only real cameos are Josh Brolin and Morgan Fairchild in the movie within a movie at the end. Phil Hartman, who helped write the movie with Reubens, has a cameo, as well as Cassandra Peterson (Elvira), and of course Jan Hooks is great as an Alamo tour guide.
Watching it again after so many years, it is hard not to be nostalgic about some of the more famous sequences like the dance to "Tequila." Mostly the movie isn't laugh out loud funny (unless you love it), though there are some good moments, particularly in Texas. As much as anything, it is just a chance to see this character doing his strange, often creative, act, complemented by Tim Burton's eye for unusual production design. It is a fairly short movie, at 90 minutes, so it isn't tiresome, and it is always at least a little entertaining. It is like watching a long cartoon maybe, just sugary entertainment, devoid of nutrition.
Written: 11 Aug 2023
Owned on: Digital