Customer Reviews

Silver City [VHS]

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(12)
3 star:		(7)
2 star:		(6)
1 star:		(4)

 

 

Silver City is another excellent movie from a director who has been focusing on an important topic for a while now: America. Not many people are willing to really explore and examine this topic for what it is because of its sordidness and complexities, and this movie deals with quite a few of those complexities: inarticulate politicans ready to bow down to corporate business and forget about everything else, immigration problems, environmental concerns, capitalism versus democracy, intelligence versus greed, you name it. Silver City offers excellent performances, great characters, and one meaningful scene after another, as well as a lot of Cowboy Junkies songs. Perhaps what makes this movie somewhat difficult for certain people is this: It makes you think.

This film grew on me.

I first saw it after it was advertised in "The Nation." It had just enough laughs--and mystery--to keep me interested.

Others have gone over the plot. Chris Cooper plays quite a good dimwit--actually no less articulate than the dimwit who now occupies the formidable house on Pennsylvania Avenue.

I disagree with those critics who say Richard Dreyfus's character, the dimwit's campaign manager, is not slimy enough. I thought he did a good job as a Rove-like snake, of no integrity whatsoever. In fact, in the "making of" bonus feature, Dreyfus says what I've been saying since I was a teenager (and I'm almost Dreyfus's age!): People essentially don't care [about much of what's going on] until they're affected by it. And then it's too late. Thanks for confirming my assertion of the last nearly 40 years, Richard!

Frankly, at first I thought Michael Murphy was too young to play Dicky Pilager's dad, but, when I saw it a few more times, he did all right.

I had a slight problem with the sherrif, Skaggs I think the character was called. He was apparently the one responsible for the lead character, Danny O'Brien, played by Danny Huston, getting fired in the first place. But by the end, the guy bordered on being Danny's political advisor. There was nothing Danny could do, so, the sherrif advised him, he'll have to reconcile himself to what's happened.

But I can live with that as the consequence of a lower-budget story.

Overall, I'm glad I have it. Sayles says in one of the special features that we are a story-telling species. That's obvious, from oral tradition of religious scripture to tales told by vikings which became epics. Those stories are important. I'll use this story it at the "salons" some friends plan to have. It's a great caricature of what we face with the neocons running the show so far. And until we realize that, things'll keep getting worse.

John Sayles is always an interesting director who provides sharp and mature insights into contemporary society. Silver City - although convoluted and long - is definitely no exception. With a kind of left of center feel, Silver City makes a kind of quasi-political, and socially conscious statement about the multiple ways in which the rich and powerful stick it to the poor and exploited, which is probably true, except that this film gets so caught up in underdeveloped subplots, and is so side tracked by failed romances that it's hard to take any of it seriously. Environmental issues, worker exploitation, press compromise and dirty politics are all played out, but with so much going on, the film, at times, tends to get too didactic and too bogged down with its own self importance.

The story combines a murder mystery with a ruthlessly managed Colorado gubernatorial contest in what is obviously a hilarious parody of George W. Bush's oratorical limitations. A waterlogged corpse of an illegal immigrant is snared on environmental candidate Dickie Pilager's fishing line while he is shooting a campaign commercial. Pilager (a terrific Chris Cooper) - a simpleton and clueless son of a wealthy senator - is ordered off the shoot, while the local police investigate what appears to be a murder.

Pilager's first run for office is absolutely embarrassing. He's an ineffectual candidate who is parlaying a cow-manure empire into a campaign to become the governor of Colorado. He fluffs his lines, gives half-baked explanations on issues, and is generally so dumb and pliable that the local robber barons; a group of bent property developers - the state's real pillagers - back him to the hilt. A millionaire businessman (Kris Kristofferson) also hopes that having Pillager in office will buy him enough influence and access to do what he wants with the Colorado wilderness.

The film would probably have been more involving if it centered on Pilager but it takes an unpredictable turn, focusing instead on Danny O'Brien (Danny Huston) a disgraced investigative reporter turned private detective. Danny is hired by Dickie's vituperative campaign manager, Chuck Raven (a Karl Rove-like Richard Dreyfuss) to lean on three possible enemies if Dickie who may have put the body in the water. With such a huge cast of characters - most notably Danny's ex girlfriend Nora Allardyce (Maria Bello), a crusading journalist and Daryl Hannah as Pilager's disgraced sister - viewers may find there's just too many characters to follow.

With so much material and multiple plot lines, including Danny's attempts regain the social conscience that caused his downfall in the first place; the film feels more like a longer draft version of an original story that was never completely eliminated. Silver City does have moments of funny political satire, and when it stays focused it is an absolutely riotous look at the contemporary political process, but the ending is so oblique, unfocused and ambivalent that many viewers will be left with the feeling that they've missed something. Mike Leonard September 04.

I guess I don't care for a whole lot of the escapist fluff that comes out in the movies these days, so I decided I'd go in for another of these more "cerebral" offerings, hearing that it was the tale of Colorado gubernatorial candidate Richard "Dickie" Pilager and the various dealings surrounding his election campaign. We are led along in something of a mystery, in which a general-purpose ex-newspaperman and investigator attempts to explain the discovery of a dead body in a supposedly-clean mountain lake. Were I more the film buff, I could have enjoyed the many placements of notable performers in this film, but I was spending most of my time trying to correlate the many story-lines and sub-plots related to the assorted special interests involved. The portrait of immigrant labor in America is well-done, as is the illustrated lesson of what happens to old mines that continue to created modern-day problems in a former boom-region. It was all entertaining enough, and variously humorous, but didn't have the compelling clarity that makes the first time through an effortless experience. If I were inclined to see it again, maybe a little more would make sense. Overall, I'm going to have to say 3.8 stars.

Silver City is a good movie, but a little slow. I wish it could have had more of Chris Cooper (who seems to act very much like Bush) and Richard Dryfuss (who seems awfully Cheney like). The movie wasn't as funny as the previews made it look and actually turns up to be a pretty good murder mystery full of oddball characters. It kind of reminded me of Primary Colors, with John Travolta, which was a mimic of Clinton and his skeletons in the closest. The movie never seems to step up and be true political satire or a full fledge murder mystery. It is somewhere in between, which actually reflects politics in today's world. Overall, it is an interesting movie and worth watching. It is very very slow at times, and I didn't really care for Danny Huston's character.

In John Sayles' latest, Chris Cooper plays Dicky Pilager, running for governor of Colorado and with more than a passing resemblance to George W. Bush. When Dicky finds a corpse while filming a campaign ad, his campaign manager (Richard Dreyfuss) hires investigator Danny O'Brien (Danny Huston) to find out if the corpse was planted. Danny, of course, gets into trouble as he uncovers family secrets and business deals.

This is a terrific cast but the pacing is very slow and the mystery is only mildly interesting. Iwould have liked to have seen Chris Cooper more.

Extras include a trailer, a 36-minute making-of featurette and a commentary track. Subtitles available in English.

Lost in the glare of Michael Moore's 2004 pseudo-documentary Fahrenheit 911 was independent filmmaker John Sayles' far more incisive filmic take on politics called Silver City. While Moore's film was a frontal assault on the George W. Bush administration, Sayles' film was less a jab at Right Wing politics, although it clearly was, and more an assault on the sliminess of politics in general. I was surprised at how good the film was, considering all the negative reviews it got from critics. Is it a great film, in league with Sayles' best? No. But it's light years beyond typical Hollywood fare- especially bigger budgeted films like the Clinton era's Wag The Dog.
The film it most resembles is Roman Polanski's Chinatown, although set in contemporary Colorado, and this film having a lighter feel- in terms of the cinematography and humor.... t's a shame that this film was swamped by so many other screechy films, such as Fahrenheit 911 and Mel Gibson's The Passion Of The Christ, for it deserved it, despite its bad ending. The best thing about Sayles is that he is unpredictable- save that he writes and directs stellar adult dramas, and given his last several films, that aspect of his work seems to be in no danger of diminishing.

I'm not going to sit here and lie to you. I first saw the trailer for Silver City while waiting to watch Fahrenheit 9/11. When I say the trailer I thought what I saw going to see was a movie similar to Primary Colors which I really enjoyed. Never again will I trust trailers.

I thought this movie was going to be one of satire, however it was fleeting. Chris Cooper does fall into the roll like he was born to play or run? It's just too bad it was in this movie. Another thing that bugged the hell out of me was the plot line was darting all over the place. Just when you barely get to know a charter, BOOM! Off we go. Fear not, there are no spoilers here. Because there's not much of an ending.

In a pre December, 2 I would still have to give this film 3 stars for the effort.

"Silver City" is writer/director John Sayles contribution to Election Year 2004. Unfortunately, this overtly political murder mystery isn't up to Sayles' usually high standards. Dicky Pilager (Chris Cooper) is a dim-witted son of a Senator who is running for Governor in the state of Colorado. While filming a television spot to promote his dubious concern for the environment, Dicky hooks a corpse on a fishing line. His paranoid campaign manager, Chuck Raven (Richard Dreyfuss), hires private investigator Danny O'Brien (Danny Huston) to find out if the corpse was planted by the Pilagers' enemies. Danny, who was a journalist until he fell victim to his own somewhat naive idealism, pokes into the Pilager family's fortunes, tracks down enemies and supporters, and tries to identify the dead man. He is too dedicated an investigator for his own good, though, and gets himself into much the same straits that ended his journalism career.

"Silver City" has John Sayle's trademark superior character writing and great ensemble cast. It gets off to a promising start, but the film is too long, the murder investigation tedious, and the pace is plodding. In case you don't know, Sayles' politics are left of center. "Silver City" lampoons President George W. Bush with Chris Cooper's Dicky Pilager, who "seems a lot more gubernatorial with the sound off". Kris Kristofferson plays Wes Benteen, a developer who wants to bulldoze national parks and the villainous brains behind the malleable Dicky: "Silver City" condemns relaxed environmental regulation, privatization of public lands, and heavy financing of political campaigns by private industry. Whether you agree with the film's politics or not, its story is weak and convoluted. And "Silver City"'s socio-political criticisms would have been been more effective approached with a commonsense style instead of a clearly left-wing perspective. On the bright side are Chris Cooper and Danny Huston's performances.

The DVD: Bonus features include a making-of documentary and an audio commentary by director John Sayles and producer Maggie Renzi. "The Making of Silver City" (35 minutes) is a poorly organized documentary in 7 parts. John Sayles and Maggie Renzi discuss the film's politics plainly, the cast talk about their characters, and we meet some of the crew. The audio commentary is about the technical aspects of filming, with little or no mention of the film's themes, and is really pretty good. Subtitles available in English.

I have never been a major fan of Sayles, but have enjoyed the few films of his I've seen. I was, however, thrilled to have seen this film which is yet another example of how to FIGHT PROPAGANDA in the mainstream through clever independent films. What some people fail to understand, is that day in and day out we Americans are bombarded by a news media which cares more about ratings and advertising then reporting the news. Though some media like FOX and Clearchannel are obviously meant to make Republicans and other conservatives look good, while ignoring or biasly reporting on the Democrats and Progressives, the once liberal/moderate American media IN GENERAL has become moderate(CNN)and Right-wing (FOX) - especially since 9/11 and Bush's "your either with us or against us" threat.

Few Americans get the full story unless they watch the BBC or other European News Agencies, or listen to NPR or Pacifica Radio. No wonder then that even some moderates have believed the propaganda Karl Rove (the modern Nazi-like propagandist) and his team put out; and, therefore, know very little of just how bad the Bush Administration has been - So bad, that DEMOCRATS are wishing for the good ole days of Nixon!

After 9/11, Americans were flooded with half-truths, full lies, and empty reporting that has never been so obvious - but since it was all done so "in the open" no one thought it all may have be just plain bull. That fact, and the threats from folks like Cheney, Rumsfeld, and Ashcroft (lets not forget the so-called "Patriot Act") kept (and still keep) many Americans silent for fear of being called anti-American, unpatriotic, or worse, yet.. French!

But there is noone more American and Patriotic than people like John Sayles, Michael Moore, Bruce Springsteen, Martin Sheen, The Dixie Chicks, Linda Rondstat, Robert Greenwald, and the scores of authors in the last year who finally had the courage to write about the truth - They are the real American Heroes.