Pee-wee's Big Holiday

This one really brought back memories for me. Pee Wee Herman has been gone for far too long. I am very happy to see Paul Reubens making Pee Wee Herman movies again. What happened to that poor man was SO UNFAIR! He never really did anything wrong and he paid a huge price for it.

If you hated the old Pee Wee Herman movies, this one will not turn you into a fan. But for those of us who loved this character, this movie is a real treat.

Yes, it is corny and goofy, but isn't that what Pee Wee Herman is supposed to be? It doesn't have any profound messages, it is just a lot of fun and a movie that you can watch with your kids.

"Pee-Wee's Big Holiday" is the latest film made specifically for Netflix and it's debuted this weekend. After seeing it, I think that if you loved Paul Rubens' first starring film, "Pee-Wee's Big Adventure", you'll love this picture as well. And, if "Pee-Wee's Big Adventure" is not your idea of fun, you'll find this one tough viewing. As for me, I enjoyed it and thought it was a very amiable film...and not a lot more. But, in my case, I think that's enough.

The style of the film is pretty much the same as in the previous film...Pee-Wee leaves his small town and goes on a journey across America. Along the way, he has a variety of adventures, meets some nice people and brightens up the lives of most everyone he meets. Why would he leave his town? Because he's just met the movie star Joe Manganiello ("Magic Mike") and the pair instantly bond and become friends...and Joe has invited Pee-Wee to his giant birthday party in New York. But Pee-Wee has to overcome his fear of leaving town for the first time in his life...which means, incidentally, that Pee-Wee has absolutely no recollection whatsoever of the first film!

This Apatow-Rubens Production is pleasant viewing and the best thing about the film is its wonderful sense of style. Pee-Wee's hometown is retro in every way...sort of like a 1950s TV series in real life. Everyone is nice, the cars are all gorgeous 50s models and there is a very, very strong sense of nostalgia. Pee-Wee is, well, Pee- Wee...and if you like his shtick from his previous two starring films (he also made the less than famous Big Top Pee-Wee), you'll enjoy this as well. The only things I didn't like is that the film, while enjoyable, took very few risks. It's essentially his first (and best) film all over again in many ways. Also, there's a sequence involving balloons and the Amish that goes on a bit too long. But otherwise, it's a nice film for the family--parents who enjoy Pee-Wee and kids who can't help but like the guy. Will it change your life? Not in the least...but it's nice, enjoyable and worth your time.

The artistic heart of any Pee Wee movie is the idea that you're looking at the world through the eyes of a kid again. Everything is bigger, brighter, more exciting, scarier, and new.

This is a road trip story, that sets up lots of funny, and usually absurd encounters for Pee Wee to experience. There's no new ground broken here, and that's as it should be. It's a continuation of everything that makes Pee Wee great.

I laughed, I snorted, and I smiled the whole time.

If you like classic Pee Wee Herman, you'll love this!

A fun movie for the kid in all of us!

I know you are, but what am I??

A fateful meeting with a mysterious stranger inspires Pee-wee Herman to take his first-ever holiday in this epic story of friendship and destiny.

This movie is not going to knock your socks off, and it never quite reaches the level of "Pee-Wee's Big Adventure", but it is still a fun movie with plenty of interesting characters and situations. If this film is as successful as it seems to be (the reviews are generally positive), I hope they get another one going soon. With Judd Apatow and Paul Rust on board, Pee-Wee is back! I did find it interesting that they kept the celebrity factor rather low. With the names attached, they could have had an endless stream of celebrity cameos, but it was minor. More or less, it was a string of actors who are better known for their faces than their names. (Many times throughout the film I had to look up different actors to make the connection, such as Farmer Brown being the same actor who played Ted's father in "Bill and Ted".)

After a number of years of silence, actor Paul Reubens brought back his Pee-wee Herman character for this Netflix exclusive movie. You might think that during all those years of keeping his iconic character out of the limelight, Reubens would have come up with a storyline for a new movie that would be more original, but that's not really the case. This movie's story feels VERY much like the 1985 movie "Pee-wee's Big Adventure", with a number of individual scenes and moments having a strong deja-vu feeling. Even the titles of the two movies have a strong similarity! But I guess what really matters is whether this new movie is funny or not. Well, it moves along at a brisk pace, it's never dull, and there are some genuinely amusing moments here and there, some coming close to the old Pee-wee magic. But quite often the gags feel like weak humor cut out of the script from the 1985 movie. I think another reason why the movie is not as funny as it should be is that director John Lee is no Tim Burton, though in fairness he was working with a somewhat limited budget. I will give the movie this, however: It's better than "Big Top Pee-wee".