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Big Top Pee-wee (1988)

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31 comments in total

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9 out of 11 people found the following comment useful :-
Painful PeeWee, 6 April 2002
Author: wsureck from streamwood, Illinois

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.

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9 out of 14 people found the following comment useful :-
Big Flop Pee-Wee, 11 April 2003
Author: Jim-500 (jpsned@hotmail.com) from Sunderland, MA

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.

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4 out of 6 people found the following comment useful :-
Underrated sequel deserves a second chance from fans, 4 October 2002

Author: funkyfry from Oakland CA

Sequel falls short largely because of stasis -- even though its's a circus theme, the writers/producers kept ALL the action on Pee Wee's farm, unlike the original which was a road trip film. Like the original, many bizarre touches are present and Reuben's portrayal is amusing. Here he's a bit more seedy, including a very funny hair fetish. The romance is unbelievable, though, because unlike the original, here Pee Wee is coupled with two supermodel class ladies. Fine direction, decent acting, lots of freaks. Kristofferson is funny as the perpetual man who knows where everybody should go (he plays that one a lot) in this case with a midget wife who's very very small. Pleasing otherworldly atmosphere enhanced by the circus theme -- if only the producers had sprung for a TRAVELLING circus! Still, this one didn't deserve the acid reviews and fan neglect it received on initial release, and should be given a fair look by fans of Reubens' neo-vaudeville comedy.

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5 out of 8 people found the following comment useful :-
don't really get it, 27 July 2001
Author: stuart feild (weerdo1482@aol.com) from Little Rock

I guess its a good idea to put peewee in the middle of a bunch of circus people, but the idea of whole love thing is just kinda weird. I mean if the charactor peewee isn't weird enough the fact that 2 women could fall in love with him, I mean its just all so creepy. there alwas seems to be something really dark going on in this movie. I really don't know what. mabe I would have prefered peewee to stay a sexless man child weirdo with a cool house. by the way this is NOT a sequal to peewees big adventure, a great movie!

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1 out of 1 people found the following comment useful :-
Not as zany as Big Adventure, but Big Top has its charms, 13 December 2007

Author: DAVID SIM from United Kingdom

*** This comment may contain spoilers ***

Pee-wee's Big Adventure was an unparallelled cinematic delight. It brought to attention the previously unknown Tim Burton, who provided the perfect starring vehicle for oddball comedian Pee-wee Herman (in real life Paul Reubens).

The mingling of Burton's kitsch aesthetic with Reuben's bizarre persona turned out to be a perfect match. Big Adventure had a very simple story to go from. Pee-wee wanted to be reunited with his beloved bike. And that basic premise was all it needed. Burton infused the film with a beautiful colour scheme, oddball delights and kooky curiosities, all played to the hilt by the irrepressible Pee-wee.

Pee-wee's Big Adventure turned out to be a surprise box-office smash hit, cementing Burton's place among Hollywood's brightest and eccentric filmmakers.

It took three years for a further instalment to arrive on the big screen. In the interim, Pee-wee got his own TV show, Pee-wee's Playhouse, and dominated the ratings as the host of one of America's most popular children's shows. Reubens took time out from the show in 1988 to make one more film, Big Top Pee-wee.

Big Top came about a year before Reuben's career was damaged after he was caught masturbating in an X-rated movie theatre. The character was effectively retired after that, and although there is talk of a new Pee-wee Herman movie in the making, I'm still not entirely sure it will ever happen.

In the meantime, we do have two of his adventures to fall back on. But after seeing Big Top, you wonder if you really want to see another one. Because the Pee-wee Herman you see here is not quite the one you remember.

It seems that Pee-wee has done a bit of growing up. Where in the first he was content to potter about his pastel coloured mansion playing with Rube Goldberg breakfast making contraptions and copiously caring for his customized bike, here Pee-wee has settled into an almost normal life.

Don't forget...I said almost! Pee-wee's now a farmer. He cultivates hot dog trees, tends to cows that produce chocolate milk, and he even has a talking pig, Vance as a business partner!

He even has a personal life now. He's engaged to prim schoolmistress Winnie (Penelope Ann Miller), and lives in a normal town. Unfortunately, he's forced to share it with some not very nice townsfolk.

But one windy day, fate blows a circus right into Pee-wee's backyard, all filled with curious kooks. First there's ringmaster Mace Montana (Kris Kristofferson, excellent). His wife, Midge, 2 inches tall, with a voice much bigger than she is. And best of all, Gina (Valeria Golino), the beautiful acrobat and star attraction, the woman Pee-wee falls for.

I think the reason Big Top Pee-wee isn't as successful is because it doesn't have a director who's perfectly attuned to the material. The joy of the first film was Tim Burton provided an eccentric outsider's take on life. But this film's director, Randal Kleiser doesn't have that quality. He doesn't occupy Pee-wee's headspace the way Burton was able to.

And the more Pee-wee tries to fit in to our world, the more apart from it he seems. He has no place in our world. He lives in one of his own rules and devisings.

Also with foreknowledge of what was to come for Reubens, you do get a bit uncomfortable watching him 'nail' Winnie, engage in a bit of two-timing, and the film even implies that he loses his virginity to Gina. With him still hosting a children's show at the time of the film's release, that makes it seem all the more unpalatable.

There are occasions where Big Top shows some of the similar quirks that made the first film so endearing. Like Pee-wee's farm animals sleeping in beds. Pee-wee plucking a worm from an apple to feed birds. And all the animals gathered around a table for breakfast. Danny Elfman also provides another whimsical film score to enjoy.

But Big Top never really ignites. It never bursts out with the joy and exuberance that Burton brought to the first one. There is a good cast, but they somehow look a little awkward trying their best to connect with someone as alien as Pee-wee.

Kris Kristofferson probably comes off best by playing the sincerity perfectly straight. But the one real shining light is the underrated Valeria Golino. She brings a passionate charge to the role of Gina. She brings Pee-wee down to earth, but is wise enough not to leave him there for too long. Because she knows he's always at his best when filled with childlike whimsy. She reminds us of the Pee-wee we once knew.

Big Top Pee-wee never inhabits the bizarre, unreal world that made the first film such a treat. I think Pee-wee has become too domesticated. If there is to be another Pee-wee adventure, he can't be kept on a leash. He must be allowed to flourish. That way we can enjoy the company of the Pee-wee we remember so well.

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3 out of 5 people found the following comment useful :-
Big Top Pee Wee? It's More Like Big Flop Pee Wee!, 10 June 2005

Author: SpikeBuff from None Of Your Business

*** This comment may contain spoilers ***

I love Pee Wee's Big Adventure, the one in which Pee Wee Herman travels to Texas and California in search of his stolen bike and I bought the DVD for that adorable and funny movie! I saw this sequel and it's just horrible and I think the only scene that was funny was the scene with Pee Wee feeding the worm to the baby bird even though it was so obvious it was candy, one of those gummy worms. Anyway this movie is not funny and is a major snore fest and I can see why the professional movie critics who I don't always agree with hated this movie. I very strongly agree with them on this one and I have read that even Paul Ruebens (Pee Wee Herman) has admitted he wasn't to pleased with this movie!

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6 out of 11 people found the following comment useful :-
Advice To Pee Wee: Forget Romance, Stick To Humor, 3 December 2006

Author: ccthemovieman-1 from Lockport, NY, United States

After enjoying the surprisingly-fun "Pee Wee's Big Adventure," I was happy to give this this a look. Well, one out of two ain't bad, I guess.

That first movie was good; this was not. However, the first 10-15 minutes was prime-time Pee Wee Herman weirdness with some very funny dialog and scenes. I thought I got lucky two times in a row but, alas, the story then concentrates on romance between Pee Wee and a circus lady (Valerie Golino). The romance with Golino takes up some much of the rest of the film that the humor goes by the wayside. Hey, the romance is sweet in a way and Golina is pretty woman but I watch this weirdo (Herman) for his outrageous humor not for his romantic stories. Puh-leeeeeze!

Speaking of beauty, Penelope Ann Miller also is in here. She and Golina both have beautiful faces, but what's with the teeth? Can't these actresses afford an orthodontist?

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Pee Wee Herman only works when Pee Wee has the spotlight., 7 October 2007

Author: Tommy Nelson from Long Beach, California

"Pee Wee's Big Adventure" is one of the funniest, most entertaining family films I have ever seen. Because of that, this movie is really disappointing. When something claims to star Pee-Wee Herman, it only works if Pee-Wee has the spotlight. In this, many scenes featured only circus characters, and all too often, Pee-Wee was playing second banana. The movie itself was very strange. Mr. Herman now owns a farm where his animals cook breakfast every morning, and he has a talking pig sidekick. Where in the last movie, and the new at the time kid's show Pee-Wee was like a little boy and didn't like girls, here he likes them too much. This movie has Pee-Wee humping a woman, making sexual innuendos and possibly losing his virginity. It's not a good movie, though it does have the occasional laugh. Kids might like it, chances are adults won't.

My rating: ** out of ****.

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This movie is different from the first movie and trust me that is not a good thing., 21 March 2007

Author: Aaron1375 from Alabama

We somehow went from a rousing cross country adventure that was the first Pee Wee movie with lots of colorful characters and some really strange situations, but overall funny to a one town movie that is strange and not in a good way. We don't get the scenery and we do not get a very good or funny movie this time. Maybe it is because Phil Hartman did not help with the script or maybe because Tim Burton did not direct, but this movie is absolutely nothing like the first film and as I said before that is not a good thing. This time we have Pee Wee on a rather boring farm, where he has a talking pig and the towns folk are a bunch of bores. Then the circus gets blown into town and that shakes things up. That is about it, besides the odd love triangle involving Pee Wee...who for some reason goes from a loner and a rebel to kind of a perv. There are a couple of chuckles to be found near the beginning of the movie, but once the circus hits it is rather tedious to watch. Like I said you go from all the wacky stuff in big adventure to one setting and one setting only. You have a few stars in this one, but they don't add to the movie, only to the misery. The ending is so stupid I could not watch it again. All in all I would say skip this movie unless you are a die hard Pee Wee fan which I am not. He was amusing in the bizarre adventure world, but he comes across as rather embarrassing and even creepy in the Big Top.

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1 out of 2 people found the following comment useful :-
The Only Movie I Ever Saw to Make Me Cackle All The Way Through..., 7 August 2006

Author: visforhendrix23 from United States

Don't believe the low average rating below, Big Top Pee Wee is the only movie I have ever seen that made me cackle throughout it's 90 minute run time. Paul Reubens portrays the childlike Pee Wee with such wondrous physical gift, that if it weren't for the infamous movie theater event that ruined his career, he would be compared to the likes of Chaplin, Keaton, and the Marx Brothers. The story line also runs smoothly, providing bubbling amounts of sheer joy for the audience members to soak in. See this movie immediately and enjoy it as thoroughly as I did. Pee Wee won't leave you without tears of laughter streaming from your face, you can count on it.

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