Stevecorp Don't listen to the negative reviews

Bereamic Awesome Movie

Comwayon A Disappointing Continuation

Darin One of the film's great tricks is that, for a time, you think it will go down a rabbit hole of unrealistic glorification.

framptonhollis Buster Keaton perfectly showcases his ability to twist genres in this all time comedy class, as he turns the premise of a Hitchcockian thriller into a riotous romp that is both clever and silly. Filled with some of Keaton's finest stunts, and some surprisingly intense (but also hilarious) climactic action/chase scenes, "Our Hospitality" is a simple and sweet joyride. It is a film made with love and care, as Keaton shows his passion for filmmaking with some of his breathtaking and memorable stunts. It takes real dedication to write, direct, and star in your own film-on top of doing dangerous stunts that depend entirely on timing. This is why Buster Keaton is one of my idols, he did some much hard work and still managed to make some damn great movies!

Bill Slocum "Our Hospitality" isn't Buster Keaton's greatest film, but shows a young pioneer on his way.As Willie McKay, Buster inherits a family estate down South circa 1830. To stake his claim, Willie must survive two things: 1. A ride on the "iron monster" which chugs ungently across hilly terrain. 2. The "hospitality" of the rival Canfield clan who wants to send an unwary Willie to the boneyard with the rest of the McKays.Watching Buster riding a train down South immediately conjures up thoughts of his later "The General," and there are plenty of other signposts for Buster fans. After finding himself unable to wear his foppish top hat in a coach with a low ceiling, Buster shifts to more practical headgear: his trademark porkpie, which remains with him thereafter. He's even joined this one time by his real-life wife Natalie Talmadge, who plays a young woman smitten with Willie to both their perils.I was prepared to not like Talmadge, as she didn't have much of a career in movies other than making misery of Buster's private and professional life later on. But she's quite affecting here. Keaton and co-director Joseph Blystone do a lot to draw out a naturally reticent quality in Talmadge; she and Buster work well together…at least here.The opening section features a very serious, overplayed dramatic "prologue" that isn't really needed and puts things on the wrong footing tone-wise. Buster gets a lot of mileage from his clattering train prop, but overuses the same gags. A big stunt at the end involving a waterfall, while jawdropping, lacks the comic underpinnings typically found with Keaton. It could be something out of "Perils Of Pauline."Most critically, the pacing is off. There are many good gags and funny bits of business, but the set-ups take too long. I'm still amused watching the third straight slow-loading flintlock gag in as many minutes, and that's something, but you so often get more from Buster.Keaton's genius shines through in many places, though, particularly at the Canfield house where he is the unwelcome guest of his would-be killers. They operate under a strict code of honor that won't let them shoot a guest (though the same code apparently says nothing about shooting an unwary victim in the back). Watching Willie work every angle he can think of to stay a guest is Keaton in prime form, whether presenting a series of really bad dog tricks or dressing as a woman.And there are some stunts as funny as they are awesome, like one where Willie is actually "rescued" by one of the Canfields on a steep cliff, and the two men wind up tied to one another as killer and prey. The period comedy is good, too; like an early shot of Broadway and 42nd Street in Manhattan's cowtown days, when Willie sits a bicycle watching a lone wagon pass by: "This is getting' to be a dangerous crossin'!"There's enough of that to make "Our Hospitality" good fun, and the stunt work, however off tonally, remains amazing even today. If it's not as great as other Buster comedies, it's Buster's own fault for making his later work so much better than this.

didi-5 This Buster Keaton piece of excellence focuses on a family feud in which Buster is the unwitting son, targeted by the neighbours of his late father's land. He meets the neighbours' daughter (real-life wife Natalie Talmadge) and falls in love with her, not knowing who she is.There are some lovely pieces of humour in this film, mainly around a railway journey into the far reaches of town. There are also breathtaking stunts involving a waterfall, which still bring gasps and applause when seen in a cinema today.A superb film, funny, inventive, and boasting a great performance from the stone-faced Keaton. Perhaps not as lauded as The General or Steamboat Bill Jr., but certainly no slouch when compared to them.

MisterWhiplash Buster Keaton can't help himself: he's always got to have something to have look at, to make as an expression of doubt, fear, exasperation at a situation that is about as impassable as possible (if not impossible, not for Buster of course). In Our Hospitality he's caught in a seemingly untenable situation as the ignorant (not stupid) McKay son plopped into an old family feud war that had been raging for generations and is ignited by his return to claim his family's property. This is the kind of feud where, in those rugged 19th century times, people killed one another just because they came from a family whose rivalry went back for generations (think the ape attack from 2001 only a smidgen more sophisticated with weaponry). But there is a classic comic catch for Canfield men in dealing with Willie McKay - they can't kill him while a 'guest' in their home, and the girl of the house, Natalie Talmadge's character, has become smitten with him. Oh boy.Our Hospitality starts a little slow, but then again it's the simple set-up to a more intricate (but still simple) set of events. It's about by the time of the 15 minute mark that we finally get the first real bits of comedy in the story, as Keaton and Talmadge ride on a strange winding and crazy train across states, and where everything from getting separated by the rickety train cars to cows on the tracks hold up things. But this is just the amusing stuff; what Keaton and his co-director are holding back are both the comedy-of-manner and comedy-of-physical acts that are to come when Willie steps into the Canfield home. This is where things get, actually, fairly dark if one thinks about it, as it's all about killing a man for doing nothing except being a certain person with a particular name. Seeing little things along the way, like Willie's reaction to a neighboring man and wife having a big fight, is equally as hilarious as the steps Willie makes to not leave the house after knowing his fate if he steps outside (will the dress, or the games with the dog, save him just yet as a "permanent resident?") As par for the course Keaton leads up to an incredible climax at a waterfall- maybe close to being *too* incredible, but why carp after a while- but leads up to it carefully, at a pace that is nearly impeccable; just watching him trying to fish and eluding the Canfields unwittingly under the dam-burst river is just fine enough, but to top it off with the continuously top-after-top of the waterfall makes it a career highlight. Overall I might not recommend the film as unanimously as The General or Sherlock Jr, it should be a must for anyone wanting not one but two solid train sequences- precursors, in fact, to the mini-masterpieces he'd stage later on in his films- and for some of those little moments where we see Keaton at his most clever and winning by seemingly doing little except showing his version of concern - a slight raise of the eye, a movement of the head, says everything. It's not entirely dead-pan; it's approximate for what Keaton would do, and just seeing him at a dinner table is as riveting as dangling from a rope with nowhere good to go. 9.5/10