Diagonaldi Very well executed

CrawlerChunky In truth, there is barely enough story here to make a film.

TrueHello Fun premise, good actors, bad writing. This film seemed to have potential at the beginning but it quickly devolves into a trite action film. Ultimately it's very boring.

Fleur Actress is magnificent and exudes a hypnotic screen presence in this affecting drama.

evanston_dad Buster Keaton just wants to take his family out on a pleasant boat trip to enjoy some sea breezes and sunshine. A simple enough request, no? Well if you've ever seen a Buster Keaton movie, you already know the answer to that question....A pretty funny short that involves many of the pratfalls you would expect in a slapstick comedy about a doomed boating expedition -- people falling in the water (a lot), a dinner preparation gone all wrong when nothing is tied down, a storm and its predictable outcome on our beleaguered hero. A cute twist at the end reveals that our protagonist family was never in any danger to begin with.The name of Keaton's boat is the Damfino, which provides a running joke and gives the film its final punchline.

Horst in Translation (filmreviews@web.de) "The Boat" is a black-and-white short movie from almost 95 years ago. The star here is Buster Keaton and he also wrote and directed it, together with his longtime collaborator Edward F. Cline. And the cast also has familiar names. Apart from Cline, who also acts in this one, the female lead is played by Sibyl Seely, who appeared in many other Keaton movies.Well.. the action is very clear. Stoneface is on a boat this time and, of course, there is no other possible ending than Keaton shipwrecked and stranded on an island. If you know how basically everything that he touches in his films turns into chaos, you can only imagine what this would look like on a boat. One major difference to his other works is that there is no real antagonist in here, so Keaton is even more at the center of it all than usual. At 26 minutes, it's one of Keaton's longer short movies. He was only in his mid-20s when he made this and yet together with Chaplin and Lloyd the biggest star of his era. I like him, but I have to say I was not really entertained that well here. Most of the slapstick wasn't particularly funny. That's why I cannot recommend it.

caspian1978 This was a short that had no long term goals. If not from dumb luck, this movie could have been lost forever. This was found among a series of other shorts that Keaton had kept at home. In many ways, this is a rip off of Chaplin. Nothing seems to go right for this little "Tramp" as he is pushed around and put into one situation after another. Not as funny as many other Keaton classics, it is worth keeping on tape for future generations to enjoy. In many ways, this and The Love Nest are often found with Keaton's classic the Navigator. Both have to do with Keaton on the Ocean. This alone keep them together in a category. If you like Keaton, you'll enjoy this one. If not, you'll agree that this is a dime a dozen for Keaton.

Snow Leopard This funny short comedy has some good subtle gags, in addition to Buster Keaton's usual assortment of slapstick gags and gadgets. For having such a closely-confined setting, there is a rather impressive variety of material, and the story and the cast make good use of every possibility.The movie starts with a clever opening shot, the kind of misdirection joke that Keaton was so good at carrying out in an offhand way. The opening scene also sets up the rest of the action very nicely. The comedy that follows on "The Boat" is at times unrefined, but it has some very amusing moments.Buster gets pretty good mileage out of the props and also from the family relationships. Sybil Seely (who was in some of Keaton's best short features) portrays his patient wife, and the reactions of her and the children to some of Keaton's antics add to the comedy.