The Rink (Chaplin 1916)

Well that's enough Chaplin for a while.
I don't have a prejudice against Chaplin, and if anything I've gone into these Mutual films expecting perhaps a little too much, but just like 'The Immigrant', I found 'The Rink' pretty tiresome. Brilliant, yeah of course- but tiresome. Someone explain to me why, because as with 'The Immigrant' I can't really explain it. I'm not enjoying the character at all- the character circa 1916 anyway, with the tendency to kick people in the pants and throw punches all over the place, but with the tendency towards tendeness and sentimentality thrown into the mix as well. Give me one or the other. And so I can appreciate what Chaplin is doing here, but I'm not enjoying it at all.
With a day job as an incompetent waiter in a swanky restaurant, feuding with his bosses and his colleagues, Charlie spends his free time at the skating rink next door, causing mayhem, getting into fights, flirting with the girls. There's no particular plot beyond that- he makes out with Edna, he tangles with Eric Campbell. The little bits of business, the hat and cane stuff, can be appreciated by anyone- here Chaplin is irresistible. Tellingly this stuff is detatched from the character and the film- it is just business, it's pantomime. You could watch it over and over again and love it just as much. Some of the skating rink stuff is lively and fun. And beyond that I'm struggling. So I'm going to pass. I'll revisit ths stuff one day.