The Unseen Movie Review

Silver City

A clumsy, inarticulate and apparently rather stupid guy running for high political office after a lifetime messing about, largely because his father’s already a successful politician with good connections? Sound a tad like a certain George W. Bush, perchance? This political satire from cult indy director John “Sunshine State” Sayles is, however, thankfully more than merely another jab at the current U.S. President – although there are jabs aplenty.

The always superbly subtle Chris Cooper is Dicky Pilager, son of veteran Colorado senator Jud Pilager, and is following his father into the family business by running for governor. His mastermind campaign strategist Karl Rove – sorry, Chuck Raven (Richard Dreyfuss) – is evidently the brains of the operation and, when the hapless candidate drags a corpse out of a lake while fishing for a campaign ad, takes charge of the situation, calling in a former hot-shot journalist to investigate any links between the stiff and the Pilager dynasty’s enemies that might be exploited for the campaign.

Cooper’s performance as Bush – sorry, Pilager – is absolutely spot-on, a near-perfect pastiche of the current president’s various idiosyncrasies, but still different enough to be more than just impersonation and allow room for deeper characterisation than merely aping a prominent real-life figure would allow. Chuck in a great turn from Dreyfuss and a supporting cast that includes the likes of Tim Roth, Billy Zane, Kris Kristofferson, Daryl Hannah and Thora Birch and you’ve got the makings of a good little film.

While the British general election earlier this year passed by with little scandal or incident, the prevalence of money in almost all American political races ensures that at all levels there is scope for surprises and corruption. While most American political movies focus on Washington and the White House, having a glimpse at the state level, even such an irreverent look as this, can help build a better understanding at just how different U.S. politics is from our own.

Of course the main concern with any political movie, satire or not, and especially one revolving around the uncovering of a devious conspiracy, is whether the basic premise is plausible. Could the complex web of interconnections between the Pilagers and their rivals, the lies, the dodgy deals all be kept secret for so long? Well, let’s face it, if it took thirty years for Deep Throat’s true identity to be uncovered, and he was the most mysterious figure at the heart of the biggest political scandal in American history, then yes – it is entirely plausible. That doesn’t stop it from being silly, but then this is at least in part a satire, so a bit of silliness is probably allowed.

Though by no means one of those must-see political movies like Nixon or All the President’s Men, Silver City still has much to recommend it to anyone even slightly interested in American politics – and in this day and age who can afford not to be?

posted by Nosemonkey @ 4:04 AM