BIG TOP PEE WEE. Directed by Randal Kleiser; written by Paul Reubens and George McGrath; produced by Paul Reubens and Debra Hill for Paramount. Starring Paul Reubens, Penelope Ann Miller, Valeria Golino and Kris Kristofferson. Rated PG.
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If you thought Pee Wee's earlier movie or his Saturday morning "Playhouse" are too bizarre, try to imagine him in a teenpic. That's right, complete with romantic problems and difficulties with a whole townful of surrogate parents.
Actually, I was getting used to Pee Wee as an overgrown little kid, and was even beginning to like him that way. And I like the parts of Big Top that let him stay with this bit.
But his satire of teenage romance makes me uncomfortable. And I suspect Pee Wee's legion of younger fans, especially the boys, will agree with me.
Kristofferson is even more out of place in this kind of movie than Pee Wee is as a romantic lead. I can think of several other actors who would have been a better choice for the circus ringmaster. Kristofferson's style is too laidback and self-mocking. To play scenes with Pee Wee, an actor has to take the nonsense perfectly seriously. Miller does a good job of that here, but Kristofferson and Golina, to a lesser extent, fail miserably.
I admit that I've grown to admire Pee Wee's Big Adventure after repeated viewings with my kids on video, when I hated it at first. Maybe the same thing will happen with Big Top, but it will be a slow, painful process if it does.
August 17, 1988