Review of Sherlock Jr. (1924) by Jens T — 13 Apr 2013

Sixty years before Jeff Daniels literary walked out of the silver screen and into the real world in Woody Allen's The Purple Rose of Cairo, a movie projectionist played by Buster Keaton dreamed himself into the theater screen to, while falling asleep at working in Sherlock Jr. He also studying to be a private detective. But when he's trying to impress his girlfriend by trying to find out who stole her father's watch, the watch is planted in Keaton's pockets by one of her father's friends, the local oil baron who have a crush on Keaton's girlfriend.

As always, watching a Buster Keaton film is such a pleasure, to see all his slapstick that to some degree is better than Chaplin in sense of quantity which causes more laughter, at least for me. And Keaton's admiration for the cinema, which is beautifully displayed in the dream sequence where all kind of breathtaking stunts and charades is performed. And all the chasing scenes could be a parody on today's action flicks, only that it was funny before. Sherlock Jr. is certainly one of Keaton's greatest films. Thumbs up.