Free and Easy

1930 talkie

Rating: 9/20

Plot: American comedy genius Buster Keaton independently made several 1920's silent feature-length comedies and comedic two reelers. He wrote, directed, and starred in the movies. He even did all of his own stunts, some of them very dangerous. In 1928, he made what he later described as the worst business decision of his life and signed a contract with MGM studios. After one great movie and one so-so movie, Keaton was ready to make his first talkie. He liked his voice and was ready to combine his one-of-a-kind physical humor with some dialogue humor. Unfortunately for Keaton, MGM's filmmaking practices were very regimented which conflicted with the more improvisational, on-the-fly style that Keaton was used to. Keaton still had ideas, but none of those ideas got through. They wouldn't even let him do his own stunts, fearing that he would die or seriously injure himself. The movies were still successful enough, at least at the box office if not from a cinematically historical perspective, but they were not Buster Keaton movies. In fact, there would never be another Buster Keaton movie again. Keaton turned to alcohol, and his marriage fell apart. He made a few MGM movies before being relegated to a gag writer for other on-screen comedians including the Marx Brothers. Nearly eighty years after Buster Keaton made his first talking picture, Free and Easy, Shane watched it and was sad for several days afterwards.

There are numerous reasons why this is a bad film. Two scenes, however, are all anybody needs to know about.

Scene number one: Buster's character (named Elmer just like in the last movie) is escorting an aspiring actress to Hollywood. He holds the train tickets for her, her mother, and himself. Suddenly, the train begins to pull away without him. "Alright," you say, "this will something good." You rub your hands together as you imagine him hopping aboard a moving train. The scene ends with Buster holding onto his hat and running to catch up with the train. It immediately cuts to Buster standing on the back of the caboose with the brakeman. They have a conversation about how Buster can't enter the train. "Ok," you say to yourself, "now he's going to outsmart the brakeman and probably end up on top of the train somehow! Then, following some death-defying stunts, he'll find the girl and his mother and get them their tickets! This will be great!" Instead, Buster takes a seat next to the brakeman and looks disappointed. Sort of how I must have looked.

Scene number two: Buster has trespassed on a studio's backlot, hoping to find the actress. He snuck into the studios in a very uninteresting manner, by the way. Suddenly, the security guard spots him. "Finally!" you say to yourself. "We'll get one of those famous Buster Keaton chase sequences! This will be great!" He hides behind some rocks of an Old West set. He messes up the scene, in a very uninteresting manner, and then has to run from the security guard and the cast and crew of the Old West picture. "Oh, man!" you hear yourself say, audibly because when you're talking to yourself, you at least feel like you have a friend. "Now we're cooking!" But there is no cooking. Buster's character winds up in another scene, nothing funny happens, and then he winds up in another scene. By then, you've completely lost interest.

Free and Easy is an awkward and depressing movie experience. I hate this movie.