DVD Reviews

Big Top Pee Wee

Paul Reubens should have stopped while he was ahead. After the great success (and subsequent cult following) of Pee-wee’s Big Adventure (1985) audiences demanded more. And they got Big Top Pee-wee (1988). Sure this movie has the star power of Kris Kristofferson (Alice Doesn’t Live Here Anymore, Blade) and Valerie Golino (Rain Man), but after recycling many of the Big Adventure jokes, I wondered what was holding this flick together. Almost every conversation and joke hinges on sexual subtext, which can be funny when it isn’t as obvious as Pee-Wee makes it.

Pee-wee lives in a country home where he works on developing new growth hormones for amazing new fruit and vegetable combinations. I won’t describe his top secret project, in order to preserve some suspense for those of you preparing to go out and watch the film. He walks his talking pig (Vance) and spends his lunch hours to trying to get busy with his girlfriend Winnie (Penelope Ann Miller – The Relic, Kindergarten Cop), the local virgin / school teacher. The townspeople hate him, possibly for no other reason than he is younger than all of them by 50 years.

The circus plot literally blows into town on the back of a tornado, with the entire circus troupe landing in Pee-wee’s back yard. Pee-wee instantly falls in love with the sexy acrobat Gina. I’m sure that Golino’s agent regrets that her first appearance in English cinema had to be Big Top Pee-wee, especially since her next film was able to win the Best Picture Oscar.

Richard Edlund, who developed the visual effects for Star Wars, Alien 3, and Ghostbusters, is credited with producing the visual effects. Oddly enough I can find no reference to his involvement in this film on the IMDB, which is probably best because the effects are really poorly thrown together. Vance is an early precursor to Babe the talking pig, but done with effects that haven’t been updated since Mr. Ed. The circus owner Mace Montana (Kris Kristoffeson) is married to a woman no bigger than a spoon, leading to obvious blue screen sequences that are just plain ridiculous. If you have a tiny character at least make it relevant somehow, like having her sneak through a hole to get a key or stop the bandits or something.

I think that the movie relies too much on the idea that Pee-wee can carry the storyline by himself. At least in his Big Adventure he was constantly searching for his bike. I’m not that interested in watching him struggle to lose his virginity. There is an entire sequence where Pee-wee auditions for the circus freak show. The other actors are clearly freak show material but Pee-wee stands out as just plain foolish. Watch for an early appearance by Oscar winner Benicio Del Toro as the Dog Boy. Once again I’m sure he would appreciate it if you never ask him about it.

Paramount clearly forgot about the film when releasing it on DVD. There are no extra materials and no trailers. I’m sure some Paramount executive noticed Pee-Wee was collecting dust on the shelf and thought that it would be a great addition to retail store bargain DVD bins across North America. Stick to the Big Adventure people. Big Top Pee-wee is on par with the quality you expect from the local exhibition. If you like being swindled by carnies then by all means enjoy Big Top Pee-wee.

Review By Peter Kluing