THE ROYAL TENENBAUMS (2001) (A) - An absolute delight of storytelling features a killer cast and the coming of age of Wes Anderson as our quirky creator of new realities. Anderson creates one of those classic Manhattan families -- upper crust but awfully crusty -- full of fascinating oddballs descended from acting royalty, Gene Hackman as Royal Tenenbaum and Anjelica Huston as his long-suffering wife Etheline.
Royal is an inveterate scam artist, once stripped of his law license, and now so broke he's getting kicked out of his hotel, and so he feigns a terminal illness to move back into the family home he long abandoned. The house is full because a series of setbacks have landed his three children back under the same roof -- depressed former tennis star Richie (Luke Wilson), depressed young widower Chas (Ben Stiller), and melancholy (and depressed) would-be playwright Margot (a perfectly emo Gwyneth Paltrow). Margot is being pursued by coked-up childhood friend Eli Cash (Owen Wilson) who has to compete for her affections with Richie, who has long crushed on his adopted sister but never acted on it. (Instead, he suffered a nervous breakdown after she married the stuffy neurologist Raleigh St. Clair (Bill Murray at his most deadpan).
Anderson fleshes out these rich characters with deep back stories, and he intertwines them all in a meticulous narrative that never feels like it's going to veer off-track. Each talented actor goes all-in, and the memorable lines fly by nonstop. Royal is a cad, but he has been so defanged past his prime that he is a pitiable and even sympathetic character. He surreptitiously befriends Chas' two curly-haired boys and schemes with the household's longtime loyal servant Pagoda (Kumar Pallana), who has a penchant for stabbing his old boss. (The two best lines: "That's the last time you put a knife in me, y'hear?" and "She smokes.")
Pathos abounds, even for Etheline, who is finally finding the gumption to get on with her life and give in to the courting of nerdy Henry (Danny Glover), the family's veteran accountant. Both sad and brimming with life, the story comes across as one that Anderson had been plotting since childhood. His third feature is his first masterpiece and would set the template for he and his creative partners creating unique detailed worlds that we can happily disappear into for two hours.
PEE-WEE'S BIG ADVENTURE (1985) (A) - If you don't get Pee-wee Herman -- or didn't at the time -- I don't know how to explain it to you. This complex man-child just strikes an ulnar nerve as a brilliant, layered send-up of pretty much all of 20th century pop culture and social customs. This avant-garde spoof of kiddie entertainment was peaking at the moment Tim Burton was ready to direct his first big-screen feature film, and the combination of talents is intoxicating.
Pee-wee evolved from the mind of Paul Reubens when he was with the Groundlings alongside people like Phil Hartman, who co-wrote this tale of a boy and his beloved bike. The hero's journey takes the manchild on a mission to find his stolen bike, even if he has to scour the basement of the Alamo to find it. The movie stands as the culmination of Reubens' honing of the character, with all of his quirks and catchphrases landing just so.
From the opening scenes, his home full of toys and a Rube Goldberg cooking device, we are ensconced in Pee-wee's fantasy world stuffed with kitschy Americana. When his beloved bicycle is stolen -- the number-one suspect is grubby rich kid, Francis (Mark Holton) -- Pee-wee is inconsolable and will not be stopped before he gets it back. This launches a truly Big Adventure, introducing a calliope of characters buoyed by Burton's giddy storytelling techniques. The narrative incorporates a mix of concepts high and low, drawing in vaudevillian shtick, exploring childhood psychological trauma, and flirting with queer culture.
But deep down it is riotously silly and raunchy. Indelible scenes abound: Pee-wee winning over gruff bikers by doing his big-shoe dance to "Tequilla"; him saving animals from a burning pet store while constantly fearful of the snakes; Jan Hooks' sassy gum-snapping tour guide at the Alamo ("Did I hear someone's stomach growl?"); James Brolin and Morgan Fairchild, a Ken and Barbie of their day, playing the film version of Pee-wee and his would-be galpal Dottie (voice actress Elizabeth Daily); Diane Salinger as a wistful, abused woman dreaming of Paris.
While the Pee-wee Herman phenomenon would burn fairly hot and quickly -- his Saturday morning TV show took off in the '80s before Reubens crashed his career in a Florida porn theater -- this big-screen gem feels timeless. Maybe younger generations won't be charmed by retro putdowns like "I know you are, but what am I?", but Pee-wee's freaky Peter Pan persona can fit in comfortably in any setting, from Punch & Judy to Key & Peele. The film celebrates classic cinema, and its narrative arc is a thrill ride.
BONUS TRACK
BIG-TOP PEE-WEE (1988) (C+) - Paul Reubens' follow-up could never be as fresh and inventive as the first big-screen adventure. And,alas, there's not nearly enough to laugh at in this second go-round as our boy wonder welcomes the circus to his mythical bygone town.
Without the inspiration that infused the first film, this sequel too often comes off as either knockoffs of the "Big Adventure" or pale attempts to recapture the lightning. We also get an oddly sexed-up Pee-wee, who is frustrated by the chastity of his fiancee, Winnie (an unfunny Penelope Ann Miller) and thus openly lusts after the gorgeous Italian trapeze artist, Gina (Valeria Golino, most recently of "Daughter of Mine" and "Portrait of a Lady on Fire"). It is unsettling to see the manchild jump women's bones, a jarring rebuke his asexual persona in "Big Adventure" and his Saturday morning TV show.
There also is little fresh humor to be mined from Pee-wee having turned into a farmer who is creating a secret concoction to better grow plants and whose assistant is a talking pig. "Green Acres" this ain't. Kris Kristofferson is on hand to play the straight man, the head of the circus troupe, and he's fairly game, but the gags he's playing off just don't have the necessary zing. Then there's the passage of time and the slight unease in watching people portray circus "freaks" (including Benicio del Toro in his film debut, made up as a dog-faced boy, or Reubens regular Lynne Marie Stewart as (groan) a bearded lady) and the circus animals being put through their paces. Time has not been kind to Pee-wee's sophomore effort.
***
And just one of the classic scenes from "Big Adventure" -- "I'm trying to use the phone!"
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