Convict 13

Amusing to be sure, but surprisingly mean-spirited for Keaton. Keaton was already balancing the broad with the nuanced at this point, so the one-note nature of this short is a little surprising.

There are a couple of nice gags near the end but the rest is rather unfunny, a real disappointment for a Keaton film. And whoever put those sound effects on this should be shot, they're terrible.

Not really one of Keaton's best, but still fun.

Apparently, golf can be a dangerous game. Although there's some funny bits, the prison sequence felt way too long.

audiovisual 50 acting 58 overall feeling 45 ag 51

Middling Keaton short is a fun diversion, but too slight and simplistic to pass muster with his "great" efforts - feels closer in spirit to Chaplin than usual, with Keaton's winsome "idiot" bumbling his way into trouble. Fun but inessential.

here an emasculated buster falls asleep and dreams a better self, one whose lack of control and physical inadequacy in a world of male competition is made irrelevant by his elasticity and creativity, his ability to fragment into different roles and turn his world into a movie. he would blow open the gates of this prison with sherlock jr.

This is an engaging chaotic short with gag after gag after gag and no time to catch your breath. From Keaton catching fish to retrieve a swallowed golf ball to murderous prison melees and a bungled bungie cord hanging, Convict 13 is relentless. Keaton maintains his stoic composure as things get worse and worse around him, stumbling gracefully in and out of deadly predicaments. Plotless, well-crafted slapstick. The frenzied pace makes it go by in a flash.

A bit of a step back after One Week, but still very funny, and honestly it's just a comparative pleasure to have Buster in the lead instead of Arbuckle.

The gags are of uneven quality but they don't let the film go stale.

Pretty funny stuff, had a couple of dull moments but quite good over all.

A few funny moments here and there, but this one's pretty rough around the edges. Keaton overplays the physicality (an attribute I usually praise him for) to the point it skips amusing and goes straight for annoying. He doesn't demonstrate any technical bravado either, as the directing and editing are both pretty ho-hum ordinary.

It's decent slapstick - but that's all it is. The joy in Buster Keaton is not just the slapstick, it's the setup - the anticipation of what's coming makes his pratfalls that much funnier, and this is really lacking in that regard. It's also pretty sloppy and rushed. It's still Buster Keaton slapstick, though, so it's not a waste of time.

A very early film. It may not be Buster Keaton's best but it was damned good for the times. A must for any Buster Keaton fan.

Old hat, per usual for these two-reelers. Jokes older than the Magna Carta, wild contrivances, everybody has to act like a complete idiot to keep the plot going...

A bit disjointed and slow but graceful and darkly comic. More ethos and less gags. I didn't laugh as much as I expected but appreciated the cynical outlook.

Classic.

Decent gags in a slapped together short that lacks any real depth.

I think it just takes a lot for me to really like Slapstick and find it hilarious. It is what it is. It's just not for me but for big fans of slapstick, maybe you'll like it more.

another average keaton short, i still liked it, but there's nothing here to write home about.