by Tim Burton, 1985.
Starring: James Brolin, Elizabeth Daily, Morgan Fairchild, Mark Holton, Judd Omen, Paul Reubens, and Diane Salinger.
Rating: 9.5/10, 7/10.
Hooray for Pee-Wee! This movie is wonderful, wonderful, wonderful. If you saw it when you were little and think it’s only good for kids, you’re wrong, see it again. If you didn’t see it when you were little, see it now, you poor thing.
The plot: Pee-Wee (Reubens) loves his bike. He keeps it under tight security and locks it up with miles and miles of chains. Evil evil Francis (Holton) loves Pee-Wee’s bike, too, though, and steals it. Pee-Wee is convinced otherwise, however, and sets off on a cross country search for it (after an extremely funny visit to a fortune teller convinces him it’s at the Alamo—in the basement). All sorts of fun result.
This film is also an astounding landmark—the first major film of one of the most wonderful directors working today, Tim Burton. Not only that, but it was the first film where he and composer Danny Elfman (who has scored nearly all of Burton’s films since) worked together. Elfman’s Pee-Wee Herman Theme (which makes me want to just jump up and down and makes some of my friends want to run around in little circles) is a masterwork. Watch out for when Pee-Wee bangs on Francis’s door in time with the music.
Every scene is pure delight. The emergency conference where Pee-Wee discusses all the evidence in the case of the missing bike (for hours...and hours...and hours) is one of them ("Do you have something to say, Amazing Larry?"). Any of the scenes with Dottie (Daily), the girl who’s in love with Pee-Wee (much to his dismay), are great, if only for Pee-Wee’s horrified reactions to her advances. And I don’t think I’ve ever laughed harder than at the always fabulous Jan Hooks as the tour guide at the Alamo ("Do we have any of our Mexican friends with us today? Well, buenos dias!"..."There are thousands of ways to cook corn, all of which i will list, right now").
I seriously don’t remember the last time I’ve had so much pure fun watching a movie. I mean, c’mon, any movie where we get the line "I’m a loner, Dottie. There are things about me you don’t understand. Couldn’t understand. Shouldn’t understand," said by both Pee-Wee Herman AND James Brolin HAS to be the best thing ever.