Silver City (2004)

This could have been much better. I think the writer/directors efforts to use this story / script as a vehicle for their leftist views ruined any potential this film had. Too much was crammed into the film to give real life to any of the characters, resulting in a series of what seemed like cameo roles for out of work actors, aka the "Love Boat Syndrome". I kept expecting the story to come together at the end with a plot twist, but unfortunately it was extremely predictable.Also, the Argo mine in Idaho Springs exteriors were used, but the interior shots of the mine were actually of the Phoenix Mine, which got no credits in the film.

Possible Spoiler ahead: I had never heard of this film, but I was attracted by the ensemble cast of well known actors and was surprised to find it was a quite funny satire. It was also good to see the character actor James Gammon in a longer than usual part as the pragmatic Sheriff, in fact his talk with Danny at the end wrapped up all the loose ends, but not in the usual whodunit fashion - the Sheriff countered every solution with an alternative ending.I like films which do not have the traditional happy ending where the plot is solved and everyone lives happily ever after. Life is not like that. Life is ambiguous. Sometimes the wrong side wins, the bad guys don't get what is coming to them and the good guys lose out. It all depends on how you view it. One of Britain's morning newspapers had a headline the morning after the 2004 election "How could 34 million voters be so dumb?" Yes, that is all it took to re-elect G. W. Bush!

Limp satire misses almost every mark. The target appears to be Bush, but none of Bush's real weaknesses are underscored with any satiric edge - speeches by Bush himself are funnier than those delivered by Candidate Pillager. In fact the script can't decide whether it's a real satire or a dramatic comment on political problems faced by illegal aliens. At any rate, the pacing of the comic moments is pretty bad - there's no oomph here, no energy. The acting also lacks energy - it is clear the actors aren't sure what Sayles wants from them - a matter made worse by the fact that every character is embarrassingly miscast.This film is a shocking disappointment for admirers of Sayles' previous exceptionally fine work. What the heck went wrong here? And now I see Sayles is slated to do a "Juraissic Park" sequel? Obviously something's gone bad for this man's career - I hope he can pull it back together. But not with a film this incomplete.

It isn't a secret that this movie was made to lampoon George Bush, his policies, his apparent connection with special interests that do not value the environment, and his great ability to miss-speak at almost every opportunity. Or simply to speak without really saying anything.Chris Cooper is Dickie Pilager, with a last name that obviously is derived from the word 'pillage' which is to plunder. Dickie is being touted as the ideal candidate for governor of Colorado and, as the movie begins while he is filming an ad spot near a pristine lake, he casts a fishing lure and hooks a half-floating body of an unidentified dead man. They quickly scramble to find a better spot before the press shows up.Danny Huston plays Danny O'Brien, former newsman who now works as an investigator. As he comes across various things of interest, he begins to diagram a picture of widespread corruption, the scope of which Dickie Pilager is clueless. It involves illegal aliens, illegal dumping of toxic waste, and other incidents that get a bit too much by the time the last act arrives.The cast is loaded with good actors, including Richard Dreyfuss, Kris Kristofferson, Daryl Hannah, Thora Birch, Tim Roth, Mary Kay Place, and Maria Bello. Some good scenes, but overall forgettable.