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Reviews of Recent Independent, Foreign, & Documentary Films in Theaters and DVD/Home Video
SILVER CITY
John Sayles returns to form in this film noir-cum-satire. Chris Cooper plays Dickie
Pilager, a simple-minded, stumbling, gubernatorial candidate,
with Richard Dreyfuss as
his press officer, who coaches Dickie through
the campaign. Danny O'Brien (Danny Huston), a journalist turned detective, is hired by the Pilager team to
investigate a dead body that the
candidate has unwittingly fished out of the water while
shooting a campaign ad about the environment. Danny's
investigation leads him to those who may have a
bone to pick with Dickie: a right-wing radio
personality (Miguel Ferrer); an environmentalist (Ralph Waite);
and even the candidate's pot-smoking, Olympic-hopeful
sister, played with sex appeal and humor by Darryl Hannah.
But as it turns out, none of these folks threw the arsenic-dusted corpse into the lake.
The stunning Colorado mountain-framed and glittery-laked landscape stands for America. The western
setting is a common one
for Sayles, where the Mexican-American population plays an
important role in contrast to the rich developers (including a
grizzly Kris Kristofferson) who exploit undocumented workers
along with the environment. The film's strong ensemble cast
and twisting story line keep the audience hooked. And at its
core, the movie is political. Through the course of the film, Sayles takes on environmental, immigration, and corporate media
ownership issues. Obvious but not heavy-handed, Silver City is a forceful statement
for change in the power structure. Caitlin Shamberg, former programming associate for the Mill Valley Film Festival
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