Silver City: A 75 Cent Film Review
I’m no expert on John Sayles films (though I do know that he came home to Schenectady, NY, for the release of Silver City; Upstate loves their estranged celebrities). From viewing the trailer a month or so earlier, I was expecting more of a wacky, laugh-out-loud comedy. Though I was pleasantly surprised that the humor was much more understated, and dark. My recommendation to see the film comes primarily from the timing of the release, a mere blink before elections, an intentional move on the part of Mr. Sayles. As we’re winding down the last interminable four years of the Bush administration, this socio-political commentary/mystery is the perfect gritty street corner where fact and fiction collide.
Are there distinct parallels to the Bush Administration? Some. Colorado Gubernatorial candidate Dickie Pilager (Chris Cooper) is a simple-minded pawn for his politically powerful father, Senator Judson Pilager (Michael Murphy), and filthy-rich family-friend, owner of the Benteen Corporation, Wes Benteen (Kris Kristofferson) which is wrecking environmental havoc on the Colorado country-side. Indeed, Dickie has a penchant for mangling the English language. He’s that sort of malleable man-child who comes off as a beer-drinking, football watching man’s man, at least through the corporate media’s lens. And in the end, despite the efforts of protagonist Danny O’Brien (Danny Huston), a former investigative reporter turned plain-old investigator, it seems that Dickie and the powers behind him will slide comfortably into the Governor’s mansion.
But after seeing the film, it’s the subplots that really stick with you. There’s the relentless underground, independent media organization running out of a dark, dank warehouse. There’s the corporate media reporter who attempts to do her job with ethics and integrity, but who goes soft in a romantic relationship with a lobbyist for big tobacco. There’s the pot-smoking Senator’s daughter (Darryl Hannah) who’s shunned by the family after having a mulatto child out-of-wedlock. There’s the Mexican migrant workers, forced to sustain deadly working conditions, intimidation by bosses, and fear of deportation. There’s mid-life feelings of failure, both with love and careers. And there’s steadfast resistance to the status quo.
Silver City is filled with characters whose ideologies, moralities, passions, personalities, and existences contradict each other, and the intersection at which they meet is strikingly similar to the current social and political environment. I didn’t leave the theater with jaw dropped open, a stream of jabbering reactions to what I just saw. In fact, I have some criticisms too, including what seemed to be a rushed and incomplete finale. But the subtitles grow on you later, as you exit the theater and return to your busy, regular life with bills to pay, errands to run, headlines to read, and an extremely important election just a mere four weeks away.
– Catherine, Media Section Editor