While I don’t claim to be an expert in silent films (I’ve really only seen a handful of them), I can confidently say that as of right now, Sherlock Jr. is the best silent film I’ve ever seen. If I’m watching a movie that’s this old, it’s usually to see what all the hype was about, and then I’m not likely to ever watch it again. However, Sherlock Jr. is one of those movies that I’d genuinely enjoy watching anytime. For being as old as it is, it’s still able to transcend time and be a highly enjoyable film. Buster Keaton delivered a movie here that blends comedy, stunts, and special effects in such an impressive way that I couldn’t help but be entertained.

The movie is actually only about 45 minutes in length, making it on the shorter end for what’s allowed to be considered a “feature-length film.” However, not a minute of that is wasted. Buster Keaton plays in the main role as a movie theater projectionist who is studying into how to become a detective. This projectionist is in love with a girl, but he has some competition. One day, it’s discovered that the girl’s father’s pocket watch has been stolen, so the projectionist decides to try to use his detective skills to solve the crime. However, the real culprit plants the evidence on the projectionist, and so the family thinks that he stole the watch. Disappointed by this, the projectionist returns to his job and dreams of a fake case where he is Sherlock Jr., the world’s greatest detective that is called to solve a case. Being a fan of Sherlock Holmes, I was definitely into this kind of parody/kind of satire of the character. It’s not like there’s some grand case to solve since we know who the criminals are from the beginning, but it’s really fun seeing an average guy try to take up the mantle of the world’s greatest detective.

So, like I said, the three most impressive things about Sherlock Jr. are its comedy, stunts, and special effects, so I’d like to briefly talk about each of those. One thing I’ve started to appreciate in my recent journey into the silent era is just how funny they can be, and Sherlock Jr. is a shining example of that. Since these movies didn’t have funny one-liners to deliver, they really had to rely on physical comedy. This is seen a lot in some of the more outlandish scenes of Sherlock Jr., such as watching him avoid all of the traps that the criminals have set for him, but it also rings true in some of the less action-oriented scenes, such as a scene at the end of the movie where the projectionist is trying to mimic what he sees in a movie in order to be romantic. These kinds of moments didn’t just make me smile…they made me laugh outright. In a culture where humor can become outdated pretty quickly, it’s really impressive how the comedy in a movie like Sherlock Jr. can stand the test of time and still be just as funny now.

Next up we have the stunts. This is probably my favorite aspect of the movie, to be honest. Buster Keaton always famously did his own stunts, and so the crazy stuff that you see on-screen in this movie was actually done by Buster. He really didn’t hold back either, since some of these stunts seem really dangerous, and it’s incredible how much he put himself through just for entertainment. This is even true in some of the simpler scenes, like falling off a chair or something like that. Buster Keaton seemed to have a pretty high threshold for pain, because he put himself through a lot of it for this movie. In fact, Sherlock Jr. features his biggest and most famous on-screen accident, in which he fell and slammed his neck off of a steel rail. He blacked out and suffered severe migraines for a long time afterwards, and it wasn’t until years later when a doctor informed him that he had broken his neck. Despite this, Keaton stayed committed and kept working on the movie. If that isn’t an example of how great the stunts are in Sherlock Jr., then I don’t know what is.

And finally I’ll talk about the special effects. It’s impressive to me that there are moments in Sherlock Jr. where I genuinely don’t know how it was filmed. The most famous example of this featured Buster Keaton jumping into a small suitcase and disappearing. There’s no fancy camerawork or anything during this scene, so it baffles me how he pulled it off so seamlessly. Another scene I absolutely love has the camera facing directly onto a movie theater screen, and we see the projectionist moving from one scene to another in clever ways. This is another example where, considering how dated some movies from the 90s look, a movie can still impress me with its special effects all these years later.

Needless to say, I thoroughly enjoyed my time with Sherlock Jr. I don’t think I’ve ever given a perfect score to a movie from the silent era, usually because I just can’t justify it when I’m not as entertained as I am with modern movies, but Sherlock Jr. is nothing short of a masterpiece to me. When I was watching it, I didn’t feel like I was just watching an old movie. I felt like I was watching a really entertaining movie that just happened to be a really old movie. It has a great blend of comedy, stunts, and special effects that are still impressive and entertaining today, and I think the movie deserves really high praise for that. I don’t know if Sherlock Jr. is always counted among the absolute best of the silent era (even with Buster Keaton, I usually hear more people talk about his film The General), but I definitely think it should be. It’s not always easy for me to recommend silent movies to modern audiences, but I’d recommend Sherlock Jr. to anyone.

5/5