The Love Nest

In his final short comedy before graduating into feature-lengths, Buster Keaton treads some very familiar territory. Broken-hearted over a nixed romance (a frequent motif), he sets sail in a small, private boat (as in 1921's _The Boat_), falls under the gaze of a mean-spirited boss (big Joe Roberts, who played an identical role in _The Blacksmith_) and stumbles from one mishap to the next before, finally, realizing it was all a dream (another common story device, used in _Convict 13_ and _The Haunted House_, among others). It's not Keaton's wildest ride, nor his most memorable, but it does offer an interesting juxtaposition between where he's been and where he's going. The laughs flow less freely, but they're better-constructed and wittier. The story has more focus and emphasis than the bare-bones scaffolds of a few years prior. He's developing as a writer and as a filmmaker, preparing for the amplified demands of a larger format while also straining to understand how his humor scales to that grand canvas. A transitional work, not an essential one.