lore-5

John Sayles, what have you done?

"Silver City" had moments in which I could see the glimmering hope of a good story, well-drawn characters, thought provoking dialog. And then those moments would quickly be covered over by layers of poor writing, clumsy direction, and abysmal acting. I truly love almost all of John Sayles' work, but "Silver City" is ghastly.

I got the feeling that Sayles may have been working on the beginnings of a good story involving the illegal labor and industrial corruption plot lines, but then he got rushed and stuck the secondary plot line satirizing the Bush administration onto it. The two stories don't really connect with each other, and the weaker elements of the political theme dominate the first 3/4 of the movie, causing me to lose patience with the whole affair.

The other major flaw is Danny Huston's acting. His dialog in every scene is delivered with a gawping grin, regardless of its appropriateness to the mood. I hated this guy by the end of the film, having been reminded of every bad actor in every high school play I've ever seen. Not having seen Huston in anything else, I don't know whether to blame him or to blame Sayles' direction of him more. Regardless, he's the unfortunate focal point of a very unfortunate movie.

Right down to the last sledgehammer-subtle final scene I was disappointed by "Silver City." Sayles at his best, or heck, even Sayles at mediocre, can be so very much better than this film. See ANY of his other works instead. This isn't even worth a rental.

Oh, my, what a disappointment this was. There was just TOO MUCH. Too much spectacle, too many cuts and jumps, too much directoral cleverness, too much mugging for the camera, too much noise, too many pop song references, too much STUFF. Even the musical numbers, which could have been what made this movie very very special, each were made up of multiple songs and intercut storylines.

I considered getting up and leaving halfway through, but resisted the urge in hopes that the film would improve. It did, slightly, calming down in the second half. But by that point I was too annoyed to get lost in the story.

"Moulin Rouge" is to "Strictly Ballroom" what "Phantom Menace" was to "Star Wars". When the directors didn't have access to enormous budgets and whiz-bang special effects they gave us well crafted, entertaining stories instead. Given free rein the story is lost to the visuals and I, for one, am left wanting my $6.75 back.