The Goat

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Nick M The Goat is a competent Keaton picture that is representative of his style at this point in his career, but it lacks some of the originality of his better pictures. Most of the gags are recycled, though there were a couple of amusing bits involving mannequins, but to its credit nearly everything was integrated into the plot rather than simply existing per se. Actually, two of the most iconic Keaton images come from this picture: his mugshot, and the one with him sitting on the cowcatcher of a train. The reason that last one is so enduring seems to be because the film presents him rushing toward us at great speed and then stopping just before he hits the camera, which would have been quite novel in 1921 as I can't recall seeing much of anything like this previously. This appears to have been achieved by slowing down the capture framerate, and then speeding up the playback to create the illusion of a startling degree of speed. The same technique seems to have been employed while filming him atop the clay horse, which sags under his weight just so. Rated 3.5/5 Stars •  Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars 12/28/24 Full Review sean l A youthfully naive Buster Keaton stumbles straight into trouble once again; mistaken for an escaped murderer and instantly feared by the general public, he's pursued by several well-intentioned (but functionally inept) pavement pounding police officers. This proves to be as good an excuse as any to embark upon his usual manner of clever, resourceful physical tomfoolery; persistently dodging consequence through sheer chance and/or ingenuity. His act has often been guilty of bordering on cartoon absurdity - manipulating an elevator's floor indicator to send the whole thing through the roof, for example - but such moments of carefree indulgence are normally balanced by more a grounded human counter-balance. Less so in this case. Despite a number of frantic chase scenes, chaotic and entertaining though they may be, The Goat relies too much on the silly slapstick stuff and doesn't do enough to distinguish itself from Keaton's better-recognized films. It's light and silly, smoothly paced, but I didn't find much to really dig my teeth into. Rated 2.5/5 Stars •  Rated 2.5 out of 5 stars 03/30/23 Full Review Audience Member It's amazing how much entertainment Keaton gets out of a chase scene, which is basically what the movie is. Endlessly inventive. Rated 3.5/5 Stars •  Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars 01/12/23 Full Review Audience Member The man knows funny. The plot to this is very simple: when our man (Buster Keaton) accidentally gets mistaken for the local outlaw, Dead Shot Dan, he is forced to become a fugitive and elude the police force, including the large and imposing sheriff. This is the tried and true formula for Buster: one man vs. the entirety of the city's local law enforcement; he does it in Cops, he does it in Convict 13, and he does it here. You may think that it might starts to get old after seeing it more than one time, but you would be mistaken. It's not just that, though, and there are a number of physical gags featured throughout. With The Goat, there is a lot of well thought out set-ups. It keeps building and building until it reaches its finale, and that's when it shines the brightest: the battle of wits and physicality between Buster and the sheriff, all the while wrecking a local apartment building. The stunts here aren't the most dangerous of his career, because that honor would either go to The General or Sherlock Jr., but that doesn't make them any less funny. As always, his eyes are the key of making his silent films work, and you can totally read it in his face whenever he gets an idea or a realization. This short is all smiles, and is well worth the twenty minutes. Rated 4.5/5 Stars •  Rated 4.5 out of 5 stars 02/26/23 Full Review Audience Member Buster Keaton is the funniest guy in film I know. This movie is from the 1920's but is way ahead of its time. Rated 4/5 Stars •  Rated 4 out of 5 stars 02/16/23 Full Review Audience Member Generally, pretty good. Plenty of action, a few amazing stunts and some moderately amusing humour, all in 22mins. It just needed a few more goats in it. 7.25/10 Rated 3.5/5 Stars •  Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars 01/25/23 Full Review Read all reviews

The Goat

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