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Director : John Sayles
Producer : Marrie Renzi
Screenwriter : John Sayles
Starring : Chris Cooper, Richard Dreyfuss, Maria Bello, Thora Birch, Daryl Hannah, Danny Huston, Kris Kristofferson, Tim Roth, Miguel Ferrer, James Gammon, Ralph Waite, Mary Kay Place
What are they using on the moviemaking plantation this election year to have
produced such a bumper crop of Democrat-leaning political films? The fertile
harvest may have something to do with outright fear of a Bush win in November.
Or, determination to clarify the issues for swing voters still formulating
their judgments.
Now, after Michael Moore's Fahrenheit 9/11, Robert Greenwald's Uncovered: The
War on Iraq, France's The World According to Bush, the upcoming Bush's Brain,
and many more, filmmaker John Sayles adds his satiric shovelful with Silver
City, a (fictional) feature film which explores the ramifications of a
political system that lends itself to corrupt and unseemly influences.
The film is aesthetically all over the place: sleep-inducing expository scenes
(most of those with Tim Roth, for some reason), classy flashes of performance
and character (most of those with Maria Bello and one with fetching Thora
Birch), platitudes and caricature (most of those with Richard Dreyfuss and
Billy Zane), mixed in with missed opportunities for stylish drama because of
pedestrian staging. But Chris Cooper's performance as the inept candidate --
styled on George W. Bush, down to his mental tendency toward verbal destruction
-- is the reason the film has to be seen.
Which may be a difficult sell. The critics aren't raving and this may turn out
to be a low altitude attainment on the Sayles monument of film, but it won't be
because of the weaknesses enumerated above. Its failure on pure moviemaking
criteria has more to do with the actor chosen for the lead character: Taking us
through the players and malefactors in the exposé of a politically corrupt land
grab and an overconfident campaign that begins with the discovery of a dead
body is ex-reporter Danny O'Brien (Danny Huston), now employed as an
investigator for a political P.I. firm led by hard-as-putty Grace Seymour (Mary
Kay Place).
Huston is nice and affable, and candidate Pilager's estranged daughter Maddy
(Daryl Hannah) thinks he's cute, and this is backed up by the assertion that
he's the ex of gorgeous reporter Nora Allardyce (Bello). But leading man
material? Where's the dynamism of Jude Law, Matt Damon, or Will Smith? Has
Sayles abandoned all hope of putting together a commercial success? Did no one
advise him that Huston, who played "hotel manager" in Hotel and "herdsman" in
The Bacchae (don't ask me!) was entrusted with too much?
Everyone involved gives it their all, and this includes a stellar ensemble cast
with the likes of Miguel Ferrer, Kris Kristofferson, Michael Murphy, the salty
James Gammon, and an energetic moment with Ralph Waite. Sayles fans will not
want to miss his latest quirky venture but Democrats most of all will not want
to miss this contribution to the campaign.
The DVD adds a making-of featurette plus a commentary from Sayles and producer
Maggie Renzi.
Silver City? I thought we were going to Gold City!
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" Weak "
Rating: R, 2004
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