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Keaton stars as youthful dreamer Willie McKay, who travels westward on a rickety locomotive to claim his birthright, only to find that his inheritance is a shack. And he learns that the object of his affection (Keaton’s real-life wife, Natalie Talmadge) is the daughter of a man with whom his family has been engaged in a long, violent feud. McKay’s personal struggles are punctuated by brilliant slapstick setpieces that involve an exploding dam, raging waterfalls, and a primitive steam engine. Keaton supervised the design and construction of the train, which he revived two years later for the short The Iron Mule (in which he appears without credit as an Native American chief). (official distributor synopsis)
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I was quite surprised by how intriguing slapstick can be. Well, this isn't exactly a classic slapstick because it's not about individual funny scenes; it's about the overall tone of the story, which is really interesting, sometimes even absurd. What surprised me the most, though, was the quality of the stunts presented here. The stunt performers in this film could definitely hold their own by today's standards. It's as if the actors, led by Keaton, had no fear at all. Captivating and at times truly suspenseful.
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