Plot
Celebrated writer and director John Sayles turns his eye to politics in America in this drama. The son of respected Colorado politician Senator Jud Pilager (Michael Murphy), Dicky Pilager (Chris Cooper) is a charming but half-bright man with a bad habit of mangling the English language and a decided lack of political correctness. Dicky is also in the midst of a hard-fought campaign to become governor of Colorado. Dicky's campaign manager, Chuck Raven (Richard Dreyfuss), is a ruthless sort who will leave no stone unturned to see that his candidate wins, so when Dicky snags a dead body while fishing during the shooting of a campaign commercial, Raven is determined to find out if his man has been set up. Raven hires Danny O'Brien (Danny Huston), a former journalist turned private investigator, to find out who the dead man is and if he might be connected to Pilager's enemies. But the deeper O'Brien digs into the matter, the more he finds out about the candidate and his family -- and very little of it is flattering. John Sayles assembled a typically impressive cast for Silver City, with the supporting cast highlighted by Tim Roth, Kris Kristofferson, Maria Bello, Thora Birch, Daryl Hannah, Billy Zane, and Mary Kay Place. ~ Mark Deming, RoviReview
Silver City could be considered John Sayles' cross between All the President's Men and Chinatown. His hero is a rumpled journalist who digs deeper and deeper into a murder investigation and reveals a history that makes clear how and why a variety of political and personal forces are driving the dim-witted but television-friendly Richard "Dickie" Pilager (Chris Cooper doing modest, brilliant work) toward the Colorado governor's mansion. Sayles has envisioned a complex web of conspiracy and greed, and he reveals these truths through a series of entertaining conversations that also allow each of the actors to develop three-dimensional characters. The first-rate cast offers a never-ending supply of quality performances. Richard Dreyfuss plays a political fixer/tactician with the understanding that power needs only to threaten -- not yell; Billy Zane embodies every nuance of a man impressed with his own power; Kris Kristofferson (no director has ever used him better than Sayles has) delivers the best monologue in a dialogue-heavy film; and Sal Lopez just about walks off with the movie as a chef intrigued by private-detective work. The actual story is complicated, but Sayles tells the story one step at a time, keeping the viewer right with the protagonist at every point. Silver City does not offer anger or passion, but it is nearly bursting with quality performances and offers a wise if resigned look at how politics work in the age of W. ~ Perry Seibert, RoviCast
- Danny Huston - Danny O'Brien
- Maria Bello - Nora Allardyce
- Billy Zane - Chandler Tyson
- Chris Cooper - Richard "Dickie" Pilager
- Richard Dreyfuss - Chuck Raven
- Daryl Hannah - Maddy Pilager
- Kris Kristofferson - Wes Benteen
- Mary Kay Place - Grace Seymour
- Miguel Ferrer - Cliff Castleton
- Thora Birch - Karen Cross
Credit
Suzanne Ceresco - Associate Producer, Ros Hubbard - Casting, John Hubbard - Casting, Lansing Parker - Co-producer, Shay Cunliffe - Costume Designer, John Powditch - First Assistant Director, John Sayles - Director, John Sayles - Editor, Mason K. Daring - Composer (Music Score), Toby Corbett - Production Designer, Chris Jones - Production Designer, Haskell Wexler - Cinematographer, Maggie Renzi - Producer, Judy Karp - Sound/Sound Designer, John Sayles - Screenwriter, Alice Baker - Set Decorator| Silver City (1969 Film), Silver City (1951 Film) | |
| Silver City Bonanza (1951 Film), Silver City Kid (1945 Film) |
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