Pee-wee as Himself

I found this film extraordinary, and am so grateful it was made--as a "final testament" by this gifted, maligned and mistreated comic genius. Director Matt Wolf clearly had an ambivalent collaborator in Paul Reubens, but the way in which Wolf was able to craft such an incisive glimpse into the mind of this very private man is really remarkable.

With hindsight, it almost goes without saying that Paul Reubens got a raw deal, and his career ruination was, to say the least, undeserved. This documentary sheds light on the "second" career-damaging "scandal" to hit Reubens, when an ambitious city attorney for Los Angeles brought a patently false case against Reubens for possessing "obscene material." This excellent documentary succeeds in "humanizing" the late Reubens,, really, for the first time, publicly. His final recorded words are heartbreakingly sad and bring this beautiful tribute to a very moving close. If only Paul could have seen a tribute to him like this while he was alive. Short of that, this fine film serves as a well-deserved, heart-felt epitaph.

Growing up in the 80s was fun, cartoon's on Saturday morning and Pee-week's playhouse what some people would say about Pee Wee would mean nothing because I know he bought joy to me as a kid. This documentary shows the real person he was and shown his passion for Pee Wee as a character. People say show your love and I truly believe Paul had his heart on his shoulder. When I heard he passed away I did cry and hearing his last word on this series broke my heart but in this series only shows his heart if you grew up in the 80s this is a must see even if you didn't grow up in the 80s 90s and love Pee Wee I would recommend watching this.

It's challenging trying to explain the huge appeal of Peewee Herman to those who never saw him or didn't get it. A unique blend of irony, sincerity, nostalgia and quirky charisma, Paul Reubens created his man-child character based on the 50's kids TV he loved in boyhood - and succeeded brilliantly.

In part one, director Matt Wolves delves into young Paul's obsession with performance and fame - and how he reached it. Along the way, though, Paul sets aside his personal life and a loving gay relationship to focus on his career. His reward is graduating from the Groundlings improv to regular appearances on Letterman and the Tonight Show - and ultimately a hit Hollywood movie.

As revealed in candid interviews, Reubens' hunger for fame was so great that he became jealous over credit given to director Tim Burton for the success of Peewee's Big Adventure - he did not want to share it.

Part II looks at the dark challenges in his life. These included a career-hobbling arrest in a Florida sex shop and a later witch-hunting investigation by the LAPD - with groundless news leaks about pedophilia. What is amazing is watching the resilience of Reubens and his supportive close friends, his family - and many fans.

Tragically, we also learn that the secretive Reubens suffered with cancer for six years before his death - which he kept from the film team telling his story.

The film's later chapters also touch on the irony of a performer accustomed to final-cut control on his projects fencing with the director telling his life story. It leads to revealing and sometimes awkward exchanges.

In total it's a compelling rise and fall and rise again life story that ended far too early.

Whatever can be said about Paul Reubens (Pee-Wee Herman), the best explanation of who he really was resides in this excellent new Max two-part documentary "Pee-wee as Himself." Essentially, this is Paul Reubens interviewing himself, unfolding his deeply personal and often lonely life and his hard fought and spectacular rise to fame from the ground up.

But then came his controversial arrest in Florida, and later, a dubious investigation in California, both having the net effect of killing his career. In a sometimes homophonic and politically-driven society, Reubens certainly had the deck stacked against him.

Reubens publicly "outs" himself in this documentary, something he could not safely bring himself to do throughout his personal and professional life. He likely felt at this point in his storied career he had nothing to lose.

Ironically, the filmmakers and even many of Reuben's closest friends had no idea that he was quietly fighting cancer. Paul, of course, knew, and he wanted to make sure his self revealing documentary would be shown after his death. For various reasons (explained in the documentary), it would not air until May 23, 2025.

Reubens passed away July 30, 2023 at age 70.

As a kid growing up in the 1980s Pee-wee was a household name. His incredible film Pee-wee's Big Adventure is a classic. Not to mention the follow-up Big Top Pee-wee. The effort he put into entertaining the public was never appreciated by most except a few true fans. This documentary goes over his childhood, stage work and films. Very well done and a great tribute to one of my favorite people of all-time.

His brief roles in movies like Cheech & Chongs Next Movie, Blow and Buffy the Vampire Slayer are really interesting and show a dynamic of Paul Reubens that went mostly unnoticed. Thank you Paul for the years of laughter and smiles.