Keaton & Davis (together again)

arelx

This is a surprising film to see after viewing *Beetlejuice*. It's difficult to descry Keaton under all the makeup in the horror/comedy classic, but he's there, and he's here too, without the makeup but clearly with a range and depth that are obvious just from comparing these two films.

If I were teaching a film course and wanted to show how good an actor Keaton is, I'd choose these two and show them back to back. Of course, his range is also shown by comparing these two films to *Pacific Heights*, *Johnny Dangerously*, and the numerous other films he's made, no two alike. There is no typecasting for Keaton, except "hire good actor here." *Speechless* is a wordy comedy in the Neil Simon tradition, with nice cutting and an obvious revulsion to cliché except when it's being made fun of (such as the ending). Few comedies make me laugh out loud. This one did.

score /10

arelx 6 November 2004

Reprint: https://www.imdb.com/review/rw0957728/