| Sayles' America (and pretty close to definitive) |
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| written by talltale |
January 22, 2005 - 4:21 PM PST |
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5 out of 6 members found this review helpful
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SILVER CITY is right up there with John Sayles' best films. Do not pay one iota of attention to critics who dismissed this movie out-of-hand. It has all the hallmarks of Grade-A Sayles: plenty of irony, humor, whip-sharp dialog, and this auteur's ability to create varied, interesting, believable characters and fill their mouths (and the movie) with pointed speeches that enlarge our understanding of how the US really works. "Silver City" tackles politics, campaigning, the environment, immigration, lobbyists, the media and more--whipping it together nearly seamlessly.
The writer/director's biggest problem comes about 2/3 of the way into things, as the movie takes on the quality of a mystery/thriller, and Sayles, never a major stylist (to say the least), is just not up to this challenge. The "romance" between the characters played by Danny Huston and Maria Bello doesn't quite jell, either, but this filmmaker has never provided much in the way of love and romance.
Not to worry: the film collects itself nicely and saunters on toward a great ending. In fact, the beginning and ending are simply terrific set pieces, beautifully mirroring (and expanding on) one another. The film as a whole also mirrors our country today about as well as anyone has captured it. Among the rest of the fine cast, Richard Dreyfuss and Darryl Hannah stand out--maybe due to the size of their roles--while the great Chris Cooper does a Bush "turn" to beat just about everything. Sayles fans, and those who don't yet know his work, should have a field day with this opus from a man who is clearly becoming one "Dickens" of a good moviemaker. |
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