A rather conflicting watch. Starts off very, very slowly, and really only becomes worthwhile in the final half hour. While in most other respects I prefer Keaton, it is clear he is not on Chaplin's level as a storyteller - this is overwhelmingly apparent in the narrative-driven opening, featuring an underdeveloped and uninteresting plot about Buster failing to live up to his father's expectations, parallel to a shoehorned love story. Largely without any major gags for the first 45 minutes; what is present is not exactly noteworthy (e.g. The excruciatingly long hat scene, which has too tepid a payoff to justify its inclusion). The goofy sound effects in the score only detract from any humour, and serve to date this further than even his shorts. Since this section is almost entirely devoid of laughs, and the plot feels haphazard at best, my attention was turned more towards the capable directing on display: a long pan to open, multiple wide shots with varied depth of field, and a hole in a window pane framed as a spotlight onto a fight (circa 41 mins in). Once we reach the jail scene, things take exponential leaps in the right direction - the comically large bread immediately signifies what to expect, and it plays out well, the highlight being a trick shot wherein Keaton throws a stone such that it breaks a window from the inside but bounces back into the room. (Note that there is an error in this scene, where an intertitle uses "would of" instead of "would have" - grammatical mistakes from 100 years ago, forever recorded for posterity!) The hurricane finale that follows is fantastic, with the film itself thankfully disregarding its hollow story; the scale of destruction demonstrated here is captivating, including houses being demolished or flying away, and one of the most famous shots in film history as the stone-faced Keaton perfectly dodges a collapsing wall (this man was either a genius or crazy, possibly both). Also features some novel effects work with Buster flying away on a tree. In short, it *blew* me away. (You know, I'm something of a comedian myself.) Too bad that almost an hour of mediocrity preceded it, making the meh severely outweigh the exceptional. Ends up right down the middle, 5/10. Go watch Sherlock Jr. Instead.
Review of Steamboat Bill, Jr.
