#169: Pee Wee’s Big Holiday
Release Date: March 18th, 2016
Format: Streaming (Netflix)
Written by: Paul Reubens and Paul Rust
Directed by: John Lee
3.5 Stars
I’m thankful for having grown up with Pee Wee. I think for a lot of kids from my generation, he modeled what can be most magical and truthful and fanciful about the world we were growing up in. The subtexts of Pee Wee’s world, whether it was his stage show or his feature films or his groundbreaking Saturday morning kids’ show, are just beautiful sentiments. Pee Wee taught us that community, especially a diverse one, is important. He taught us that it’s not only okay to be different, but it’s powerful to be different. And sure, he taught us that kindness and sharing are good, but unlike Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood or even Sesame Street, Pee Wee Herman taught us that it’s natural to experience negative emotions too. It wasn’t uncommon for Pee Wee to be vindictive, to hold a grudge, to lash out in anger. They were the very emotions that a young child feels often, being powerless and held hostage to the whims of adults.
It made Pee Wee relatable to us in a way that Mister Rogers or Big Bird never could be, and much, much funnier. Re-watching Pee Wee’s Big Holiday, his last film as Pee Wee or otherwise, I was struck with just how funny Paul Reubens was. There are a dozen moments in the movie where the slightest curling of the lip or raising of an eye brow made me laugh like an idiot. I could imagine Charlie Chaplin and Buster Keaton watching Paul Reubens perform and saying, ‘See, he gets it.’
The film is about Pee Wee living and working in his hometown of Fairville. He loves his town, as well as his neighbors, his job, and day-to-day existence. He even creates a model of Fairville in his backyard. What Pee Wee doesn’t like is change.
This resistance to change is challenged when Pee Wee meets Joe Manganiello, playing a silly, hunky version of himself, as he’s riding his motorcycle through town on his way back to New York City. They instantly hit it off (the sexual undertones are delightfully funny), and it just so happens that Joe’s birthday is in a few days, and he’d love for Pee Wee to be there.
What follows is a cross country road trip and a bunch of fun hijinx. I think it’s a blast.
Sure, the film is a bit derivative of Pee Wee’s Big Adventure, and it’s shot in that overly lit, artificial made-for-Netflix style, but that doesn’t ruin the fun.
It’s a lovely swan song for a character beloved by children and adults all over the world. It’s been real, Pee Wee, and it’s been fun…and it’s been really fun.
