The Great Buster

The Great Buster (2018) -

I recently watched 'Go West' (1925) and found an appreciation for the comedy genius that was Buster Keaton within the first few minutes and by the end of it, he was my new favourite. As a result of that I was very keen to watch this documentary in order to find out as much as I could about him and the other films that he had been a part of.

It was a shame that the narrator's (Peter Bogdanovich) voice was so monotonous and dull, because the clips of Buster were hilarious and quite often laugh out loud moments at times.

The journey mostly followed a chronological direction and gave warning when it would have to go back to something for further investigation, as such it was easy to understand and it clearly showed the highs and lows of Buster's life.

I think that for me to find such joy in performances that are over 100 years old says something about the brilliance and skill of the man in question. His works have certainly stood the test of time better than a lot of others, including some of the more recent efforts from just the last 40 years, which are already dated and cringey.

There's nothing really to say about production values, etc, so this review will be finished here, but if you've ever been tempted by silent movies, watch this to see where to start.

760.11/1000.

If you are not familiar with Buster Keaton, I guess this is not a bad place to start. However, unlike it's subject matter, this documentary is quite mediocre. In this age of great documentaries, this one still starts and ends in a traditional way - by starting with Buster's birth, career, etc. Even structurally, the docu is not well thought-out, suddenly showing a greatest-hits type compilation at the end, after having finished Buster's life story with his death. It has nothing new to add or show, except a few talking heads on what Buster meant to them. Most of these had either no connection to Buster, or they are not appropriate people to speak to (I mean, do you really care what Johnny Knoxville thinks of Buster Keaton?) It's a pretty lazy piece of film-making that is also not very well-researched.If you can, try to catch the three-part 1987 British docu called "Buster Keaton: A Hard Act to Follow".

A good doc on Keaton, but not great.

Once again another film confronts its viewers with talking heads telling us why ***they*** think the title character was great. Please, don't tell us, show us! Give the viewer credit for having some substance between his/her ears. Show us why Keaton was a great comedian. Don't inundate us with personal opinions. It's easily demonstrated, i believe, because the man was truly great.

I tire of entertainment personalities acting as qualified historians. If they have good, unbiased insight into the man, I'll listen; however, none of this movie's talking heads are unbiased. They all have a dog in the fight. They all passionately adore BK. That's fine, but please don't think because you knew the man that you have some secret insight into him. Many of the talking heads are simply repeating apocryphal stories.

A good written biography and a small selection of his best film's on DVD is a fine introduction to the man.

This film is more hagiography than insightful biography.

Having said all this, I'd still recommend the film. Just make sure you pick up those DVDs.

While maybe not the most definitive look at the man, this does a great job of explaining why and showing why he was so great and will leave you wanting to track down all of his movies you can. IF you've seen lots already and already love him, it's not really much new, unless you really wanted to know what Johnny Knoxville thinks... That said, Keaton was amazing so this is well worth watching.

An excellent overview of Buster Keaton's life and work. The man was such a genius and seeing this touching documentary made me smile. I liked seeing all the miscellany and smaller things he did in his later life, even the commercials, because I had never seen them before. I also liked getting a little excerpt out of so many of the early two-reelers, and of course those extraordinary moments from his major works. I'm not sure about all the choices Bogdanovich made in terms of the celebrity interviews and would have preferred a little more depth in places that didn't get it, but it does show the scope of the influence Keaton had. In the end I appreciated the balance in the documentary, between all of the little clips and rare bits (running the risk of turning attention away from the major films) and the truly amazing physical comedy in those epic moments (running the risk of just becoming just a montage of film clips). It's not perfect, but I saw and learned new things, and was touched and inspired afterwards.