The eccentric and childish Pee-wee Herman embarks on a big adventure when his beloved bicycle is stolen. Armed with information from a fortune-teller and a relentless obsession with his prized possession, Pee-wee encounters a host of odd characters and bizarre situations as he treks across the country to recover his bike.
Reubens always lets us feel superior to his creation, and when his character slips, as it does more than once in this first feature outing, his own condescension shows through.
– Dave Kehr,
Chicago Reader,
9 Feb 2010
fresh:
Children should love the film and adults will be dismayed by the light brushstrokes with which Paul Reubens (one of three credited screenwriters, but star-billed under his stage name, Pee-wee Herman) suggests touches of Buster Keaton and Eddie Cantor.
– Variety Staff,
Variety,
9 Feb 2010
rotten:
You have been warned.
– Vincent Canby,
New York Times,
20 May 2003
rotten:
Fair warning: this movie could induce terminal boredom in adults and rot the minds of the young.
– ,
TIME Magazine,
9 Feb 2010
fresh:
Fed by comic tributaries perhaps, but Pee-Wee Herman comes over as a delightful original.