| Cast overview, first billed only: | |||
| Paul Reubens | ... |
Pee-wee Herman
(as Pee-wee Herman)
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| Elizabeth Daily | ... | ||
| Mark Holton | ... | ||
| Diane Salinger | ... | ||
| Judd Omen | ... | ||
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Irving Hellman | ... | |
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Monte Landis | ... | |
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Damon Martin | ... |
Chip
(as Damon Landis)
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| David Glasser | ... |
BMX Kid
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Gregory Brown | ... |
BMX Kid
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Mark Everett | ... |
BMX Kid
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| Daryl Keith Roach | ... |
Chuck
(as Daryl Roach)
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Bill Cable | ... |
Policeman #1
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| Peter Looney | ... |
Policeman #2
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| Starletta DuPois | ... | ||
The cartoonish and childish character Pee Wee Herman goes on a big adventure for the first time ever when his beloved shiny new bicycle is stolen by his nemesis Francis Buxton, a fellow man-child and neighborhood rich "kid." And he sets off on an obsessive cross-country journey, determined to recover it. Pee-wee's awkward and childish attempts to be cool and mature. Written by Anthony Pereyra {hypersonic91@yahoo.com}
Man-child Pee-wee Herman lives a magical life but has one possession that he treasures over all the others his bicycle. The envy of the neighbourhood, his bike is his life and he is horrified when he finds it stolen. With the police unwilling to start a statewide search, Pee-wee sets out on an adventure to try and find his bike.
Pee-Wee Herman is a fairly acquired taste and won't please all audiences. I quite liked him here but couldn't have watched his show on a weekly basis. In this film though his `man-child' style and outlandish sense of humour really work out well. The plot is fairly pointless and just sparks off a road trip, which has a series of bizarre characters and adventures along the way.
Tim Burton's darkly comic imagination certainly helps and he gives the whole film an other-worldly feel to the whole thing, whether it be in the delivery of Herman's dreams or just the look of the film as a whole. Not all of it works of course, some of it misfires and isn't as funny as it would like to think that it is, however much of it is weirdly amusing and will be entertaining if you like Herman's style.
Herman can be annoying but here he stays on the right side of irritating and he is amusing in his delivery. He certainly suits the material and his OTT/hyper style helps the audience get into the very silly plot! Support is good and has lots of small roles that are weird and funny.
Overall this film is very much a matter of taste. If you like Herman then you should enjoy this film as it is very well done and is blessed with a real other-worldly touch by a great director in the making.