Pee-wee's Big Holiday review: Today's secret word is 'forgettable'

Pee-wee's Big Holiday begins in the West Coast town of Fairville, where Pee-wee Herman is but one of many absurd townies. In the years since we last saw him, Pee-wee (played by a frighteningly unchanged Paul Reubens) has traded his classic Playhouse for something a little more quaint. But it quickly becomes apparent that time has had only the most minor effects on Pee-wee, who maintains his penchant for silly gadgets, comically bad puns and quick-witted snark.

The seeming timelessness of the character becomes the central focus, however; Pee-wee tells his friends of his resistance to change. In the film — which seems to operate in a canon in which Pee-wee's Playhouse and movies like Pee-wee's Big Adventure never happened — Pee-wee counters possible life developments by proudly claiming to have never left Fairville — and he never wants to.

That conviction makes sense for a character whose primary trait is his childlike demeanor. But it's one that Pee-wee quickly abandons in a move that undercuts what could have been the film's emotional core. After he meets and befriends a cool guy from the city, portrayed by a game Joe Manganiello, Pee-wee is offered the chance to give up his small town digs for a New York City vacation — an invitation he takes up quickly.

What's worse is that, despite the fact that each of these scenes unfolds quickly, the movie feels long. Really, really long. Pee-wee's road trip feels like far more of a slog for the viewer than the traveler himself.

Even a Pee-wee fan who loved Big Adventure and grew up with Playhouse will likely concede that the character can get taxing quickly. In Big Holiday, his less endearing quirks are exacerbated by the film's noncommittal storytelling, in which characters are dropped minutes after they're introduced. It's tiring to watch Pee-wee have the same drawn-out conversations and miscommunications with other oddballs over and over and over and over again.

The TV series worked far better than Big Holiday does thanks to its variety: There was a whole cast of characters at play, along with different skits and sketches that sidelined Pee-wee. But the Netflix film has its hero front-and-center for almost its entire duration. Scenes that cut back to Manganiello in New York as he awaits Pee-wee's arrival are when the film is at its best, primarily because they feel like a reprieve. Pee-wee's Big Holiday is anything but for the viewer who must try — and likely fail — to keep up with the spry and always-on Herman.

Sometimes seeing that something or someone you loved as a kid has stayed the same after all these years is comforting. But this film wears out its welcome fast, and those looking to relive their childhood Pee-wee Herman fanaticism are probably better off just rewatching Big Adventure on Netflix for the umpteenth time than dipping into this forgettable revival.