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| Silver
City is John Sayles' comment on the state of the political process.
Among the things he wants to show us is that the marketing of a candidate
takes precedence over substance so candidates like Pilager learn quickly
to avoid having to speak extemporaneously or to answer surprise questions.
|
(2004) Film Review |
| This
page was created on October 20, 2004
This page was last updated on
December 11, 2004
—Review by Darrel Manson
—Trailers, Photos
—About this Film
—Blog
with Darrel Manson
Dial up modems will take a few moments |
| CREDITS |
|  Directed
by John Sayles
Written by John Sayles
Cast
(in credits order)
Maria Bello .... Nora Allardyce
Thora Birch .... Karen Cross
David Clennon .... Mort Seymour
Chris Cooper .... Dickie Pilager
Alma Delfina .... Lupe Montoya
Richard Dreyfuss .... Chuck Raven
Miguel Ferrer .... Cliff Castleton
James Gammon .... Sheriff Joe Skaggs
Daryl Hannah .... Maddy Pilager
Danny Huston .... Danny O'Brien
Kris Kristofferson .... Wes Benteen
Sal Lopez .... Tony Guerra
Michael Murphy .... Senator Judson Pilager
Mary Kay Place .... Grace Seymour
Tim Roth .... Mitch Paine
Luis Saguar .... Vince Esparza
Ralph Waite .... Casey Lyle
Billy Zane .... Chandler Tyson
Produced
by
Suzanne Ceresko .... associate producer
Maggie Renzi .... producer
Sam Tedesco .... associate producer
Original Music by Mason Daring
Cinematography by Haskell Wexler
Film Editing by John Sayles
MPAA: Rated R for language.
Runtime: 129 min
For rating reasons, go to FILMRATINGS.COM,
and MPAA.ORG.
Parents, please refer to PARENTALGUIDE.ORG
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AND CLIPS |
| —Trailers,
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| SYNOPSIS
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| From
John Sayles, one of the essential, iconoclastic voices of American
independent cinema, comes "Silver City," a film that is
equal parts scathing political lampoon and sun-stunned neo-noir detective
story. Set against the backdrop of a mythic "New West,"
"Silver City" follows grammatically-challenged, "user-friendly"
candidate Dicky Pilager (Cooper), scapegrace scion of Colorado's venerable
Senator Jud Pilager (Murphy), during his gubernatorial campaign. When
Pilager finds that he's reeled in a corpse during the taping of an
environmental political ad, his ferocious campaign manager, Chuck
Raven (Dreyfuss), hires former idealistic journalist turned rumpled
private detective Danny O'Brien (Huston) to investigate potential
links between the corpse and the Pilager family's enemies. In the
tradition of the great films noir, Danny’s investigation pulls
him deeper and deeper into a complex web of influence and corruption,
involving high stakes lobbyists, media conglomerates, environmental
plunderers, and undocumented migrant workers. With pitch-perfect dialogue,
unerring sense-of-place, and a slashing satiric strain, "Silver
City" offers John Sayles's timely and toxic look at the state
of the union on the eve of the 2004 Presidential election. |
 Review
by DARREL MANSON
Pastor,
Artesia Christian Church, Artesia, CA
http://netministries.org/see/churches/ch01198
Darrel has an incredible love and interest in the cinematic arts.
His reviews usually include independent and significantly important
film. |
 Dicky
Pilager is running for Governor in Colorado. One
would be naive indeed not to recognize that Pilager's character
is designed as a George W. Bush clone. He's the latest generation
of a political dynasty. He is very good when on script, but on his
own, his mouth will get him in serious trouble. He doesn't seem
very bright (although a sham
website makes the point that his GPA was higher than President
Bush's). He's very closely tied to big business. On top of all this,
Chris Cooper seems to be "channeling" the President in his portrayal
of the candidate, and the comparison is not meant to be flattering
to the President.
Silver City is John Sayles' comment on the state of the political
process. Among the things he wants to show us is that the marketing
of a candidate takes precedence over substance so candidates like
Pilager learn quickly to avoid having to speak extemporaneously
or to answer surprise questions. Instead they learn to stay "on
message," that is, to say only what they plan to say, especially
if it fits into a sound bite.
 Sayles'
films often deal with appearances as opposed to reality.
Prime examples are Lone Star and Sunshine State. Here, too, it's
clear that Sayles is showing us a public image of a politician while
letting us know that the real person is quite different. On camera
or in prepared events, Pilager looks and sounds strong and confident.
In a scene with reporters but no handler, he is obviously incapable
of serious problem solving.
The film does have some important
points to make. Unfortunately, many of the issues
get buried under a mystery plot that distracts us from what I think
is the real reason for this film. The mystery involves a body that
Pilager hooks with a fishing lure while filming a campaign ad. Are
dirty tricks involved? Investigator Danny O'Brien is hired to let
a few people know they are suspected. But as a former journalist,
he can't help trying to solve the mystery of who this is and how
he died. In his searching, he uncovers lots of information that
looks bad for people involved with Pilager, but really can't be
traced back to any one person.
 That
the film was released a few weeks before the presidential election
makes it obvious that Sayles is not a fan of President Bush.
He expects people to be able to see Bush in Pilager. His expectation
is so obvious that it becomes another distraction from the issues
that could have been raised in this film. Silver City is a cynical
film. While there are many issues in our electoral system that invite
such cynicism, it is just too easy to see the film as being cynical
only about President Bush. I am not a Bush supporter, myself, but
I would note that many of the issues of campaign marketing and financing
are issues that apply to all major candidates. Because Pilager is
so obviously a Bush stand-in, the film looks more like an attack
on Bush than a film that is asking serious questions about the way
we elect our leaders.
This may be one of Sayles' weakest films, which is too bad, because
the subject matter is important and needs someone of Sayles' abilities
to focus our attention on such issues.
—Blog
with Darrel Manson
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