AllMovie

For reasons best understood by their editors, a lot of reference sources list Slow As Lightning as a Western -- which is pretty obviously not the case as the movie opens in a decidedly urban office setting and never really leaves it. What's more, it embraces a story and range of characters that would have been all-but-impossible to squeeze into any Western as the genre was conceived in 1923. In short, it's not an oater at all -- it is a decidedly urban comedy/drama about a good-hearted if unfocused young man who succeeds despite his naive nature, with help from three friends: an Irishman, an Italian, and a Jew, who band together with him. The pacing could be quicker, and the humor of some of the situations pushed harder, but overall this is a fascinating social document of its time -- a time when most filmgoers were not from the big city -- and with enaging performances throughout.