Review of Sherlock Jr. (1924) by John M — 28 May 2013

My first Buster Keaton movie, and boy, what a place to start. So our protagonist (Keaton) has a lackluster job as a film projectionist, but he is also an aspiring detective. He jumps to offer his assistance when the pocket watch of his sweetheart's father gets stolen.

Now I have pretty limited experience with silent films; the only one I can actively recall having seen before is The Artist, which you may or may not count, being that it came out so recently. I was kind of blown away with how charming this is, and I just had a big smile on face for almost the entire time.

When you bring into consideration that this was made back in 1924, that makes it all the more impressive for being so innovative, and for being so ahead of its time. This is obviously the age before CGI, and even the age before stuntmen, so the fact that our brazen star/director is physically performing every last one of these risky stunts is mind blowing.

It's really fast paced, and being that most of the gags don't play out in the way that you are expecting, it keeps you 100% engaged. This is clearly a precursor to classic entertainment like Looney Tunes and the Three Stooges, and at 44 minutes, there isn't a single reason why you shouldn't watch this.