CinePhile-istine

The filmmakers appear to have about the same moral compass as their subjects, showing them as very sympathetic figures.

I'd been wanting to watch this movie for the longest time and finally managed to get a DVD only in 2021. I guess a part of my disappointment comes from the high expectations. Not only is quite boring but even as a time capsule recording those times, it somehow fails. Like a lot of the movies from the late 60s, 70s era, this was overliked by the young critics of the time (who would go on to become important tastemakers). But like many other movies from the era (such as Easy Rider, for example), if you're seeing it now, you'll be scratching your head about why it's so highly regarded.

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".