It’s no coincidence that Chris Cooper’s dim-witted gubernatorial candidate Dickie Pilager in John Sayles’ “Silver City” resembles George W. Bush. Sayles, a filmmaker renowned for his moral vision, has made a movie about the current state of the nation that's every bit as insightful and biting as Michael Moore’s "Fahrenheit 9/11."
Reprehensible Dickie is clearly and unflatteringly modeled after the president: from a striking physical resemblance to his discomfort on a horse and his maddeningly off-subject, incoherent answers to direct questions posed by members of the press. Richard Dreyfus plays Chuck Raven, Pillager’s campaign manager, a menacing mix of Dick Cheney and Karl Rove rolled into one.
Featuring an enormously appealing ensemble cast, and mixing comic moments with mystery and suspense, “Silver City” is a deeply cynical film about the powers that run the show in America. Sayles takes steady aim at corporate influence just behind the façade of government, and the powerlessness of the media to report the truth. Sayles' script also takes us into the dark underbelly of corporate success, the exploitation of illegal immigrant workers.
At 124 minutes, “Silver City” is dense, but never polemic. At its heart, there is a mystery to solve: a dead body unearthed in the lake where Dickie Pilager intended to shoot a campaign ad. There is also a hero: Danny O’Brien (Danny Huston), a private eye who has been hired by Dickie’s campaign to look into the matter. It comes as no surprise when Danny finds more than he is looking for. Our hero is a sad man. Evil campaign manager Chuck Raven marks him a loser. His girlfriend, a cracker jack journalist (Maria Bello) has left him for a smarmy lobbyist (Billy Zane). We are meant to like Danny; his boss at the investigation agency (Mary Kay Place) doesn’t have the heart to fight with him, Dickie’s estranged sister Maddy (Daryl Hannah) takes him to bed, but the label sticks: the good man is fighting a lost cause. It's sad for poor Danny, who has staked his health and well being on discovering the truth, and in the end, it's sad for us all.
