Silver City (2004 film)
| Silver City | |
|---|---|
 Theatrical Poster | |
| Directed by | John Sayles |
| Written by | John Sayles |
| Produced by | Maggie Renzi |
| Starring | Danny Huston Chris Cooper Richard Dreyfuss Maria Bello |
| Cinematography | Haskell Wexler |
| Edited by | John Sayles |
| Music by | Mason Daring |
| Distributed by | Newmarket Films Columbia TriStar |
Release dates |  May 13, 2004 Sept. 11, 2004 Sept. 17, 2004 |
Running time | 128 minutes |
| Country | United States |
| Languages | English Spanish |
Silver City is a 2004 political satire and drama film written and directed by John Sayles.
The film stars Chris Cooper, who portrays an inept Republican gubernatorial candidate, a character that was noted for similarities to U.S. President George W. Bush.[1] The film's ensemble cast includes Richard Dreyfuss, Danny Huston, Maria Bello, Kris Kristofferson, Mary Kay Place, Thora Birch, Tim Roth, Billy Zane and Daryl Hannah.
The film is a "murder mystery [linked] to a political satire[2]; according to Sayles, it is "about electoral politics, but also about the press."[3]
Plot
Dickie Pilager is running for governor of Colorado. He is an inarticulate son of a senator, with no political experience. The campaign falters when Pilager reels in a corpse during the making of a political advertisement about the environment. Pilager's campaign manager, Chuck Raven, hires Danny O'Brien, a former journalist who works as a private investigator, to examine the case. Raven urges O'Brien to find potential links between the body and Pilager's potential enemies.
O'Briens job is to essentially intimidate Pilager's enemies, and he has numerous revealing conversations with various people. He learns that business mogul Wes Benteen is using Pilager to promote his own money-making agenda. The interviews also reveals further corruption where politicians, land developers, and mining companies have come to an agreement, where environmental issues have been completely ignored. He also learns about illegal migrant workers, as well as a potentially damaging affair.
Cast
- Danny Huston as Danny O'Brien
- Chris Cooper as Dickie Pilager
- Richard Dreyfuss as Chuck Raven
- Maria Bello as Nora Allardyce
- Thora Birch as Karen Cross
- David Clennon as Mort Seymour
- Alma Delfina as Lupe Montoya
- Miguel Ferrer as Cliff Castleton
- James Gammon as Sheriff Joe Skaggs
- Daryl Hannah as Maddy Pilager
- Kris Kristofferson as Wes Benteen
- Sal Lopez as Tony Guerra
- Michael Murphy as Senator Judson Pilager
- Mary Kay Place as Grace Seymour
- Tim Roth as Mitch Paine
- Billy Zane as Chandler Tyson
Reception
Critical reception
Silver City had its world premiere at the Cannes Film Market during the Cannes Film Festival. Multiple critics noted the similarities between the character portrayed by Chris Cooper and George W. Bush[1][3][2][4][5], with some also seeing parallels between Richard Dreyfuss' campaign manager and Karl Rove.[1][2]
In general the film fared poorly with critics, earning a rating of 46% (rotten) among 123 of them at Rotten Tomatoes.[6]
Roger Ebert of the Chicago Sun-Times praised the film but said it likely wouldn't change any votes in the 2004 election. "America is familiar with the way [George W. Bush] talks, and about half of us are comfortable with it. That's why Silver City may not change any votes. There is nothing in the movie's portrait of Pilager/Bush that has not already been absorbed and discounted by the electorate."[2]
Ruthe Stein of the San Francisco Chronicle called the film "wildly uneven" with "dull" stretches. "But the movie comes alive when Cooper is in it, especially his scenes with Richard Dreyfuss as Dickie's savvy campaign manager," Stein wrote.[5]
Caryn James of The New York Times called the film's script and direction "exhilarating", characterizing the film as "a Bush-bashing work that is more than Bush-bashing" which "goes beyond election-year satire to reach broader themes of corporate power, campaign double talk and journalistic responsibility."[4] James notes it is also a "detective story with a half-dozen major characters and a twisty Chinatown plot that begins when the environmentally hostile Dickie is filming an environmentally friendly campaign ad and fishes a corpse out of a river."[4]
Limited U.S. release
Silver City had a limited release in the United States, where it was marketed as a comedy about an "intellectually challenged, poorly spoken politician."[3]. Sayles commented on that marketing approach in an entertainment interview for CNN:
- You basically give it to the company, and they advertise it the way that gets the most people in the theater. [When it plays in] other countries, [they] may emphasize the Chinatown aspects (aspects also noted in a New York Times article[4]. The problem with all my movies, because they're complicated, is they don't boil down to two sentences, so you emphasize this part or that part of it.[3]
The film played in 162 theaters at its widest, and earned US$1.4 million in U.S. box office.[7]
References
- ^ a b c Rose, Steve. July 22, 2005. Film reviews: Silver City, The Guardian (retrieved on January 20, 2007).
- ^ a b c d Ebert, Roger. Chicago Sun-Times, September 17, 2004. Last accessed January 20, 2007.
- ^ a b c d John Sayles against the world, a Todd Leopold review and interview from CNN
- ^ a b c d Political Art, Potshots to Sure Shots from The New York Times
- ^ a b Stein, Ruthe. September 17, 2004. Stein, Ruthe. San Francisco Chronicle, "My, this candidate sure sounds familiar." Last accessed January 20, 2007.
- ^ Silver City at Rotten Tomatoes (retrieved on May 10, 2007).
- ^ Silver City at Box Office Mojo (retrieved on January 20, 2007).
External links
