Denver Film Festival 2022 Review: ‘The Pez Outlaw’

Written by David Minkus

We all want to be the hero of our own story. If we can be an outsider like Robin Hood bringing justice to all, so much the better. The more dull our lives, the bigger that need can be. That was certainly the case of Steve Glew, who went from factory worker to the man who upended the entire Pez collecting community in Amy Bandlien Storkel and Bryan Storkel's The Pez Outlaw.
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This movie most definitely tells a story that is well beyond the idea that truth is stranger than fiction and wouldn't be believable in the slightest were it not to take place in a time before the internet being a societally ubiquitous tool that linked the planet together. As someone who dabbled in the Pez collecting community, Glew discovers that there's literally a world of Pez dispensers outside of the US. Seeing an opportunity to potentially capitalize on toys that the US distributor wouldn't authorize for the country, he sets on a journey that ends up with him smuggling toys out of industrialized areas of European countries that could just as easily end up with he and his son, dead on the side of the road as coming home with illicit cargo.

The fact that these trips turn into cash cows that make Glew a legend in the Pez community and a ridiculous amount of money comes as much as a surprise to him as anyone else. Obviously, the US distributors aren't exactly thrilled with Glew's antics, and a war of toys breaks out with splashes of espionage and skullduggery that you wouldn't think could happen in a world of children's candy dispensers.

It would be one thing if Outlaw just told the story. That would be mildly interesting. However, we've got masters of documentary insanity in these directors. Having cut their teeth creating insane dramatization scenes in previous documentaries like HBO's Alabama Snake and Netflix's The Legend of Cocaine Island Amy and Brian Storkel have mastered recreating the craziest scenarios and The Pez Outlaw most definitely shows their growth. The story simply wouldn't have been anywhere near as compelling without illustrating just how nuts the situations Glew found himself in were. The Pez Outlaw is available for rent and purchase on your preferred VOD platform and shouldn't be missed.

Trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZInOvqvygrk

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