Good start, but then it gets ruined

This is a coming of age storyline that you've seen in one form or another for decades. It takes a truly unique voice to make yet another one worth watching.

A terrific literary drama and character piece that shows how the process of creating art can be seen differently by those doing it and those looking at it from the outside.

One of the most extraordinary films you will see this year. Take that as you want.

Buster Keaton is his usual adorable, amazing, and funny self in this story of the son of a riverboat captain who tries to learn the ropes from his father while being attracted to the daughter of a rival captain. Keaton's character hasn't seen his father since he was a baby, and his scrawny build and beret are a disappointment to his father, played by Ernest Torrence. The movie is a teeny bit slow at the start, though there is a funny scene of his father trying to select a new hat for him. Stick with it. It builds to funny moments in the local jail (love that backwards rock toss), and then some fantastic scenes at the end, when a cyclone strikes, with Keaton displaying great physical comedy as well as bravery. In one of his most famous stunts, the side of building comes crashing down on him, only to miss him because he's standing in the spot the doorway lands. There are several other dazzling moments in an extended sequence that is the genius and crescendo to the film. The first half of the film is not as strong, and it would have been nice if the love interest (Marion Byron) had been expanded a little more, but this is still a very enjoyable, heartwarming movie, with some truly unique moments.

(Flash Review)Odd little plot but the stunts are fantastic! Something about competing steamboat companies and then later a massive wind and rain storm hits and Keaton's character attempts to rescue random people as well as himself. The first two acts are pleasantly amusing but the final act is historic and the original Mickey Mouse's Steamboat Willy is based off of this film!! This has the scene where the storm blows down several houses. One of the walls fall toward Keaton but he luckily survives thanks to a cleverly placed open window. This has been mimicked to death everywhere. Crazy and sadly I learned that Keaton, in real life, was feeling very depressed and that he did the stunt because he didn't care whether the open window missed him as it was a full-weighted wall. In retrospect, he would never have done that stunt! Anyway, this is a must see. Very clever, exciting, funny and tense! Second only to The General.

This film is not only one of the funniest movies I've seen, It's also one of the most astounding. Seeing Keaton perform all of his own stunts (Mainly the famous wall scene) is always a thrill to watch, and the whole second half of the film where the town is ripped apart by a storm must have been incredible to watch when this film originally came out. The plot is simple and more coherent than other films of the age, and it lends itself well to some of Keaton's comedic style very well. Not only is this film great, but it was so well known in it's time that Mickey Mouse's first cartoon was based on it! Definitely a must watch for all lovers of not only silent films, but comedy films as a whole.

For me, Buster Keaton is a very subjective clown. He is third, for me, to both Chaplin and Lloyd. Whether you like him or not, he is undeniably instrumental, not just in the way of farce and so on, but also in the way films were crafted and designed. Look at "The Cameraman" 1928, which is what I usually consider to be his magnum opus; he proves that the disillusioned camera shots and works of art are made completely inadvertently and that they're made with sufficient heart to really breath in our own personal passions for what we anticipate to show on screen - and it could be our personal statement or just our frame of mind - however way, it's still done without a lot of intent. Just like what Keaton done in the stunt department and of course in "The General" and his earlier shorts where in one of them he feel right into the water, "Steamboat Bill Jnr." made in 1928, which bears a similar name to "Steamboat Mickey", is a prominent example of his exposure to folly and his way of pinning down on jokes spot on, while he essentially puts himself in situations that he crawls out of, either harmed or not, stoically.That's one of the things about Keaton; he doesn't blow up like what Mack Sennet would have done. He is a well collected and cordial fellow, who just happens to be clumsy. In "Steamboat Bill, Jnr." he plays William, who has sent a letter to his Father who works on a boat. The beginning they wonder if he's going to be very tall or not, which is of course poking fun at Keaton being extremely small and if you're not familiar with Keaton during the viewing of it, it doesn't tickle you as much. So basically, his Father tries to suit him up when he comes down to work on the deck of his ship - and on his ship a lot of predicaments take place, where he doesn't seem to be accepted. He falls in love Kitty King, and it develops as the movie goes on. The folly is shown in this movie, through a sequence of bad decisions and klutzy ways that Keaton acts, as he tries to keep a straight face and successfully does. His Father in the picture is a really recalcitrant character, and he is also what contrasts with William in that sense. A lot of the folly and what is funny is the fact that the movie is the basis of simple things and times - it's a charming movie as well, and it can be really exuberant to watch. The beginning might make you laugh heartily and then near the end it might make you pour your heart out for Keaton. Either way, the story is really basic and it's really Keaton that safes the picture with his screen presence.I highly recommend it. I don't want to give much away about the movie because it will entice you long enough to really appreciate what it's going for and making ephemera feel greatly important.