Pee-wee Herman (Paul Reubens) loves his bike more than anything else in the entire world. He wouldn’t take one-hundred-million-trillion-billion dollars for his bike, and he’d be willing to do anything to protect it. However, one day that beloved bike is stolen–and now Pee-wee needs answers. Pee-wee’s Big Adventure tells the story of the titular strangling as he travels cross-country in an attempt to retrieve his most prized possession.
I’ve never really been one for Tim Burton films–they are always a little exaggerated, over-the-top, and outside the realm of normalcy. With that being said, however, I believe that Pee-wee’s Big Adventure might be the perfect film for Burton. This film allows Burton to play around with reality, use over-the-top acting and characters, and effectively bring a ridiculous story to life that works in a series of ways. This works as a child’s film, as it’s colorful, absurd, and, if you’re into slapstick-style comedy, this film is full of it. This film is absurd, and it will appeal to younger audiences or audiences that appreciate frenetic, exaggerated comedy.
I do believe, to some degree, that Pee-wee’s Big Adventure has a metaphorical purpose–that it can mean a lot to viewers that are struggling. This film has the potential to remind viewers that sometimes it’s okay not to grow up so fast, it’s alright to fall in love with the little things in life, and sometimes, a little ridiculousness is acceptable. Pee-wee’s Big Adventure possesses a child-like quality, one that might allow viewers the rare opportunity to just sit back, relax, and not think too much about the things playing out in front of them. The messages present in the film seem to come naturally, without viewers having to work to find them.
Composer Danny Elfman, to this day, is one of the best in the business. He’s composed music for more than one hundred films and television shows, and he’s been successful in just about every one of them. Pee-wee’s Big Adventure is simply another opportunity for this great musical mind to shine. He creates a score that brilliantly mirrors the immaturity of Pee-wee but also manages to create a level of intensity and sophistication as well. It’s clear the amount of effort that went into creating this score, and I think it’s fair to say that it’s my favorite part of the entire film.
The character of Pee-wee is not one that I appreciate on any level–and the performance by Reubens (regardless of whether or not this is what Burton was looking for) is far from what I consider to be entertaining. His exaggerated performance, one that simply doesn’t make any sense to me, is frustrating and far too unappealing. Every word out of his mouth, every facial expression, every movement frustrated me to no end throughout the course of Pee-wee’s Big Adventure. There were moments when I wanted to close my eyes and cover my ears so that I could pretend Pee-wee had gone away. His performance is just that intense, and that poor–and he should exist on a list of worst movie characters of all time.
Cinematically and technically speaking, Pee-wee’s Big Adventure is sound. It’s an effective story, guided by an entertaining score, and brought to life by a series of wonderful directorial decisions–and I can’t stand it. Pee-wee himself is horrifying; he looks like something out of a nightmare–and beyond the fact that I couldn’t stand the character, he’s objectively scary. I rarely laughed (but there are moments of comic genius sprinkled throughout the film), and I’ve come to an interesting conclusion: Pee-wee’s Big Adventure is, in fact, not a comedy, but a horror film.
Directed by Tim Burton.
Written by Phil Hartman, Paul Reubens, & Michael Varhol.
Starring Pee-wee Herman, Elizabeth Daily, Mark Holton, Diane Salinger, Judd Omen, etc.
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐½/10
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