Pee-wee's Big Holiday (2016)

Paul Reubens as Pee Wee Herman has always been a favorite character for me. Pee Wee is always full of fun, fantasy, and adventure and here in Pee-Wee's Big Holiday everything Pee Wee is all about is at full throttle. This story is light hearted entertainment that is suitable for all ages.The only odd thing about this older Pee Wee is the obvious aged and wider face. In some scenes it makes Pee Wee appear a bit odd looking but someone who is not a Pee Wee fan would never notice unless they watched Pee Wee Herman movies back to back. Otherwise I can find no fault in this classic Pee Wee story.All of his sight gags and gadgets are here to be enjoyed. The characters are all quirky and the dangerous characters - well there is not real danger in Pee Wee's world - which should bring some level of pleasure to all viewers! Enjoy!

Go ahead, critics, compare it to his other movies, better, worse, equal to etc. He's aged, he hasn't aged. Who cares? This is a movie unto itself. None of what the oldsters are talking about is at all relevant to a kid seeing or hearing PeeWee for the first time. This movie can stand alone.I don't laugh out loud much at movies. Nothing is really that funny for me. This--I laughed out loud over and over. Sitting here all by myself. Laughing. You can't help it. It's so wonderfully absurd and silly.The casting, the performances, and the art direction are near flawless. There's nary a false note anywhere, down to the smallest detail. And it's really, really funny.I defy anybody not to laugh when PeeWee mangles his movie star friend's last name. Or meets the farmer's daughters. Or ends up in a mobile hair salon. I'm sorry. If you don't laugh at this stuff, you're dead inside.

I really didn't have high expectations for this but I found myself enjoying it. At first I was put off by the heavy makeup on Paul Reubens to try and hide his age, plus the sad reality that Reubens can no longer do the distinctive Pee Wee voice quite right. So, the first few minutes into this I was doubtful I would be able to finish it. But gradually I began to look past those things because it's funny and charming with a delightfully corny approach that reminded me of the older movies and the TV series. Not every gag works but I think most of them are at least worth a chuckle. There's a very simple but effective gag involving a balloon at one point that had me in stitches. In an age where every stand-up comic uses trite observational humor and every comedy film seems to rely on dick jokes, it's refreshing to see something prove "old school" humor still works. Once you get past the creepy makeup and the voice, it's a fun movie. Sure it's mostly an exercise in nostalgia for those of us who grew up watching Pee Wee but I don't really think that's a negative.

I have the theory that contemporary childish entertainment, full of bizarre concepts, grotesque characters and naughty humor, was originated by two cultural hits of the '80s: Ren & Stimpy and Pee- wee's Playhouse. Both series offered a refreshing alternative to the ultra-commercialized products which used to be popular back then, which were basically toys ads with awful animation (like Community satirized in one of its best episodes). On the opposite, Ren & Stimpy and Pee-wee's Playhouse offered new ideas, overflowing creativity and a sense of humor which was so subversive that their broadcast on Saturdays morning seems unbelievable. For better or for worse, Ren & Stimpy was never able to surpass the "cult" niche, but Pee-wee's Playhouse extended its success to two films (Pee-wee's Big Adventure and Big Top Pee-wee) before hibernating for many years... probably due to certain personal "indiscretions" committed by Paul Reubens, the creator and alter-ego of Pee-wee. However, in this century, Pee-wee resurrected with a successful Broadway spectacle, rumours of a TV spin-off and now another film, in which Reubens puts on the grey suit and red tie again in order to play this perennial child-adult. Unfortunately, I ended up finding Pee-wee's Big Holiday simpleton and boring, completely lacking of the emotions, exuberant humor and runaway greatness of the TV series and the previous movies. Besides, I don't know what audience this film was made for; I really doubt that modern kids, accustomed to the strident caricatures of Disney Channel and Nickelodeon, will get interested in the modest live-action adventures from Pee-wee, while the adults (like it happened to me) will get bored by the insipid screenplay, which closely follows the structure of Pee-wee's Big Adventure, but not nearly reaching the same level of humor and surrealism. Pee-wee's Big Holiday is basically a weak copy, vaguely recognizable due to its general appearance, but without the vibrating color of the original version. The classic road movie formula employed by Pee-wee's Big Holiday puts Pee-wee in contact with a parade of picturesque characters, including three aggressive female criminals, a woman with a flying car, a farmer old man who is very jealous with his daughters, a laconic "woodsman" and an Amish community; and the encounters result in: nothing. The story doesn't progress; it simply jumps from location to location without any structure or purpose. In conclusion, I didn't like Pee-wee's Big Holiday, and I ended up finding it a waste of time. In order to take the bad taste out of my mouth, I will re-watch some old episodes of Pee-wee's Playhouse (which are available on Netflix), in order to re-encounter with those wacky characters and manic sense of humor which made that TV series so unique.