Rating: PG
Genre:
Comedy
Theatrical Release: 07/22/1988(USA)
Release Date: 08/05/2008
SubTitles: English
Dubbed: English/French
Sound: DD5.1/DD2/DD1
Run Time: 85 Minutes
Flags: Adult Situations, Questionable for Children
Distributor/Studio: Paramount
Paul Reubens's followup to the box-office hit
Pee-Wee's Big Adventure is just as outrageous and cartoonish, though not as good. This time, child-man Pee-Wee runs a colorful farm, chock full of talking animals and outsized produce. On the morning after a tornado of
Wizard of Oz dimensions, Pee-Wee awakens to discover that a travelling circus has been deposited in his back yard. Befriended by circus owner
Kris Kristofferson, Pee-Wee takes an acrobatic job, hoping to impress lovely trapeze artist
Valeria Golino--thereby incurring the jealous rage of his hometown sweetie
Penelope Ann Miller. When the circus is faced with bankruptcy, Pee-Wee comes up with a brilliant idea: why not stage a three-ring spectacular celebrating the wonders of agriculture? A partial takeoff of such earlier sawdust-trail flicks as
Martin and
Lewis'
Three Ring Circus and
Disney's
Toby Tyler,
Big Top Pee-Wee is generally entertaining, but goes off in too many directions at once, leaving a lot of loose plot ends and underdeveloped characters. Also, Pee-Wee's overactive libido (at least in this film!) is not all that suitable for his younger fans. Even so, there are plenty of hilarious set-pieces.
Big Top Pee-Wee was produced and cowritten by
Paul Reubens.
~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
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