Pee-Wee: Meu Filme Circense

While I had this movie on my recording device for months, I only decided to now watch it because of the recent passing of Paul Reubens. This was his second movie as Pee Wee Herman after Pee Wee's Big Adventure. This also came out when he was also doing his TV show "Pee Wee's Playhouse" which was a very popular Saturday morning program for kids. I recognized at the time that Pee Wee was a little more adult-like in some behavior (like what he does to the Penelope Ann Miller character during their picnic scene) and I also knew about the triangle that would develop when Valeria Golino would appear. Still, it's mostly a kiddie-vibe much of the time since in this one Pee Wee lives in a farm with animals he treats like friends and welcomes the circus after a storm brings them to his farm though the other townspeople (who seem mostly elderly) don't welcome them. The first 30 minutes provides plenty of hilarity while the rest of it is more leisurely with some amusements. The ending seemed anti-climatic but I enjoyed this for what it was. A few years after this, Paul Reubens would get scandalized when he got caught doing something in an adult film cinema causing him to be blacklisted for a while. Be that as it may, he was surely one of the most unique of comic minds, that's for sure! Rest in peace.

I thought Pee-Wee's first movie, Big Adventure, was brilliant. But this one had none of its magic and spunk. Pee-Wee didn't even seem to be himself. The only remotely funny part was when he dredged up the "I know you are but what am I" routine. But even when he did that, he didn't seem that interested. The only thing I remember about this flick was him lying under a tree with his girlfriend. Yawn.

I think Paul Reubens is a genius. But not in this movie.

I've tried watching this movie three times, and can never get all the way through it. Big Top Pee Wee is as bad as Pee Wee's Big Adventure was good. Other than some imaginative effects, Pee Wee looks like he fell out of the sky and landed in this movie. I think Bill Murray would have been better cast in a movie with this plotline, especially in the scenes where Pee Wee is acting like a dog in heat. Murray would make a convicing "hayseed" and slob on a farm. Reubens seems to strain in his attempt to make something of the unfunny material he's given...the characters around him are generally unfunny as well. How anyone came up with this farm, then circus plotline is beyond me. The film is generally devoid of laughs. An overall waste of the Pee Wee Herman character and one of the worst "comedies" I've ever seen.

Ah, the ignorance of being a kid. "Big Top Pee-Wee" had some decent play value back when I was too small to know better. But watching this through adult eyes was a huge letdown. The story's paper thin, the charm is nonexistent and . . . well it's all off. Most of the jokes are dead in the water, and there are long stretches where you hope for something funny, but the laughs just don't come. I kept asking myself if I'm just missing some brilliantly subversive art - but no, I'm pretty sure this is just driftwood. Kristofferson's seemingly wandered into the wrong production, and Reubens is just doing through the motions. Vance the Pig was funny, and the hot dog tree was cute.

But that's about it.

4/10

This sequel has nothing to do with Pee-wee's Big Adventure.

Therefore, I wouldn't actually even say it's a sequel. First of all Pee-wee's back but not with his super cool bike or his super cool house with all the gadgets. Not even with the same people. Where were Dottie, Francis, Mario, Speck(his dog), the biker gang, or even Simone?? Noone but Pee-wee himself was in the second movie. That was a major let down. Pee-wee goes from living in California to living in a small farm in the middle of the suburbs. His pet is a talking pig and the rest of the movie is just blah. If they knew Pee-wee was for kids, I don't see why they had to put so much kissing in this movie. Even the woman Pee-wee falls in love with is boring and has the world's most annoying accent. I completely disliked it and I even ended up not liking Pee-wee anymore. Stick to the first one and that's it!! Unless you'd rather be let down, then watch the second one!! What a waste of time, film, money, etc.