The Pez Outlaw

This is a fantastic documentary from beginning to end. Not only is it a compelling story, but heartwarming as well, and the visuals were absolutely terrific. Watching Steve concoct his plan, and then seeing him have the gumption to enact it, was a blast. He was a normal, everyday guy, and he turned himself into the lead character in his very own spy novel, just to figure out a way to make ends meet, and feed his family. This is a true gem of a movie, and I'm so glad the filmmakers brought us into this world of hilarious drama, with a touch of nostalgia, and Steve's very own brand of espionage (pezpionage?). Sit back and enjoy.

This was an interesting, well-made, and entertaining documentary. My Dad was actually a collector of Pez, had all of the pre-internet pricing guides and I remember helping him look up many Pez to find out which colors were rare and worth money. This was fascinating to see an insider look at how crazy Pez collectors can get but Steve is a gem.

SIFF 2022 Watch #1.

This is one of those rare documentaries that would actually be better told as a fictional movie than a documentary. It's the story of Steve Glew who made millions of dollars smuggling Pez dispensers into the United States. Steve's story is interesting because he grew up very poor, and he discovered something which would ultimately make him wealthy, but then he got bored with doing that, and he wanted to be more creative, and then he crossed a line which he was unable to come back from. Also interesting is how Steve's nemesis is presented as this arrogant villain, but in actual fact everything that Steve was doing was technically illegal. So you feel kind of bad for him because he seems to be a sweet, good-natured individual, but on the other hand it was a completely predictable failure. So an interesting watch.

On the surface, the story of the Pez Outlaw is interesting at the very least but by no means life changing to the average viewer. The impressive thing to me, however, is that the documentarians took this story and absolutely turned it into a masterclass of creating an engaging documentary. The whole time I was completely engaged with the story by the sheer quality of storytelling that was taking place. Although the stakes were not high at all, I was worried about what would happen next to the protagonist Steve Glew. I laughed out loud multiple times and was mesmerized by the cinematography and stock footage.

Perhaps, like me, you have only a small brush with PEZ from your youth. Being in my early 60's I fondly remember the PEZ candy dispenser as being the big point of interest as the candy was rather sweet but hardly memorable on its own. Is almost anything collectible? Some things more than others apparently and PEZ dispensers grew through years as collectible toys for a certain subset of folks. Enter one curmudgeon type of a OCD guy. One who battles his own inner demons of depression named Steve. Steve becomes infatuated with PEZ while becoming a burgeoning seller of dispensers at toy shows. This leads to something only a certain kind of OCD person might segue to. That is finding the real source of these things and that leads to Eastern Europe.

You see there is a disconnect between the European branch of PEZ and the U. S. branch. They are separate with the European PEZ founders controlling everything but the U. S. market. It might be said the U. S. company was lazy and content to just kind of exist modestly. They didn't bring in many new and exciting designs nixing most of the European's designs. Of course whenever something isn't available it becomes desirable and those Euro designs would fetch very high prices whenever the few were traded among collectors in the U. S.. While I wouldn't call Steve a Wharton Business School whiz I will give him credit for figuring out how to supply the collector's demand. I'd say he did it brilliantly as he was able to import through a loop-hole the U. S. PEZ company created themselves. Of course "Pezident" Scott of the U. S. PEZ company was irate. Battle lines would be drawn and not in the usual courtrooms where U. S. PEZ was hamstrung. Maybe a bit of international intrigue too?

This is a very well put-together documentary about a sublime little known tug-of-war between an individual and a corporation. The corporation's short sightedness and sheer greed made it lazy. It actually did not meet the market it sold its wares in literally opening up a cottage industry one man would come to dominate. In the end, the corporation does what corporations do: starve their competitors out of business through all possible manipulations. Even so PEZ USA has egg all over them and Steve comes out as a sort of hero standing up against long odds far longer than most folks could have. And he's left with this great story which is somewhat heartwarming even. From now on whenever I see a PEZ dispenser I'll think of Steve first and foremost. That's a win.