I parenti di mia moglie

The sudden and mistaken marriage of Keaton to an unlikely bride is the incident that forms the basis for the plot. Confronted by animalistic in-laws, who would be any groom's nightmare, Keaton maneuvers through their opportunism and materialism. Somehow the pieces don't quite fit together. There are episodes that are almost very funny, but not quite. Perhaps grounded too deeply to contemporary reality, I'm never able to accept the premise that Keaton would acquiesce to this marriage without any form of challenge. Perhaps that direction in plot would have produced a greater opportunity for Keaton's brand of comedy to shine.

Really love Buster Keaton, he was incredibly funny, very daring and was also one of the few in film history to make deadpan work. Love many of his feature films, with 'The General' especially being a masterwork, and most of his independent short films too ('The Scarecrow' and 'One Week' being my favourites). Not all of them though, as a few did suffer from not being particularly inspired or disjointed and cobbled together stories, such as 'Balloonatics' and 'The Frozen North'.

'My Wife's Relations' is not one of Keaton's best either, while putting it above those two only just. As far as his short films go, while above average and worth watching it is one of his lesser ones. A lot to like, but doesn't do enough with a great idea and Keaton did funnier and more imaginative work before and since. 'My Wife's Relations' is worth watching if wanting to see as much of Keaton's work and silent comedy in general, but it's not one of the essential.

There are plenty of good things. Keaton is without complaint, he has great comic timing, he shows off his fearlessness whenever he is able to and he is endearing (keep saying a lot about his near-unparallelled mastery of deadpan, but it is always impressive when something you don't usually care for is done well). His character is a likeable one in an on paper relatable predicament. Kate Price is very convincing as a formidable battleaxe of a character and Keaton regular Joe Roberts plays to his strengths very well.

It looks good with nicely framed photography throughout. There are amusing moments, especially in the second half where Keaton's bold physical comedy shines in the climax. The dinner scene has some very funny little touches and wedding nights don't often get more chaotic or hellish than the one in 'My Wife's Relations'

However, 'My Wife's Relations' did feel a bit inconsistent in the pace and laughs so it made it hard for me to fully connect with it. It does have slow spots before properly coming to life in the climactic moments and there could have been more laughs, or at least ones that felt more consistently natural than those here.

Also felt that the thin and at times contrived story brought things down as well as going well overboard on the unlikeability factor for most of the characters. While Keaton, Price and Roberts are good, the others seemed to be over-compensating.

Summing up, above average but not exceptional. 6/10

Not one of Keaton's better efforts, but there are a few laughs to be found in this wry tale of a man who finds himself accidentally married to a battle-axe (Kate Price) with four hulking brothers, none of whom take kindly to his presence in their home.

Buster Keaton was often one to draw creative inspiration from his personal life. Frequently his love life, which was stormy and dramatic. Here's one such example: he married his first wife in 1921, and within a year he produced this short film, about a well-meaning sucker who's torn from his happy livelihood by a sudden marriage and an abhorrent set of greedy, oafish in-laws. The fictional version involves four large, bumbling brothers, as contrasted by his real bride's two sisters (all successful actresses), but it doesn't take much effort to read between the lines.

In this case, unfortunately, the personal connection doesn't result in many laughs. Buster is unjustly abused and exploited, despite his best efforts to make nice and blend in. Even when those good intentions don't backfire, his craftiness occasionally trumping his overwhelming bad luck, he's barely given a pat on the head before catching the persona non grata tag again and the whole dance begins anew.

It all culminates in a desperate chase, as many of Keaton's capers seem to, this one through a posh mansion and across the crowded roadways just outside. That's the sizzle of the film, another example of the expressive star's knack for repurposing everyday objects in acrobatic new ways, but it's brief and inconclusive. Satisfying climaxes sometimes seem optional in these brief comedies, but this one ends far more abruptly than most. Almost as if its star hadn't yet found an answer to his own similar, private entanglement.

In the world where people misunderstand each other perfectly Buster Keaton is accidentally wedded with intimidating woman (Kate Price) with even more intimidating brothers. Buster is not very welcome in the family and he gets bullied around until one of the brothers finds an envelope in the Buster's pocket. Inside the envelope is a letter that declares that he has inherited $100.000. Suddenly all the family starts to take care of Buster - they treat him good (well, almost) and they rent an expensive mansion. Then they discover that the letter wasn't for Buster, and all hell breaks loose.

The film has some quite funny and clever moments, but they are just moments. Like usually in the Buster Keaton's movies, this time the story doesn't go nowhere and random stunts (as magnificent as they are) are just random stunts in random order. Seems bit wasted opportunity, considering the talents of Buster Keaton. Still, it is fun and entertaining enough to spend your 25 minutes.