Poor Paul Reubens. Every time someone writes anything about the guy, it always comes back to getting caught jerking off in a movie theater sixteen years ago. If you had caught some of his ejaculate from the porno theater and artificially impregnated a woman with it, the ensuing child would be just about old enough to drive now. It’s time we gave this whole aspect of the man’s life a rest.
Unless, of course, he riffs on it in the new film from Todd Solondz, a man who has not been afraid to graphically explore male masturbation (as a pastime as well as a means of decoration) in the past. At Cannes Solondz announced he’s working on a new film that will be a companion piece to Welcome to the Dollhouse and Happiness (and I would assume Palindromes, which includes the funeral of Dawn Weiner – from suicide, not from being hung upside down naked in a Slovakian torture chamber and bled out), now a Yahoo! article about Reuben’s endless comeback reveals he’ll be taking a role in the movie.
Interestingly, it could be a role we’ve already seen played. At Cannes Solondz said this: “Many of the characters from these movies unexpectedly beckoned to me, and so I have explored new ways of developing and enlarging their stories, with the intent to recast them from a fresh perspective.” Could that mean Paul could be playing the jizz-splattering role first created by Andre Dellamorte – I mean Philip Seymour Hoffman in Happiness? Or considering his background as Pee Wee Herman, how creepy would it be if Reubens played the pedophile dad from that film (a role Dylan Baker never has and never will escape in my mind)?
Either way, it’s great news. Solondz is one of our most daring and interesting filmmakers – even if you don’t like his films, he’s a fascinating and provocative artist. And Paul Reubens, as he reminded us with a stellar turn as a very fucked up prince on an already classic episode of 30 Rock, is a great comedian (although this role, we’re told, would be dramatic). Getting these two together is a perfect idea.