Politifictional Fun
Silver City, at first glance, appears to be a mocumentary about a politician running for Governor in Colorado. Throw in a bit of dark comedy: a body is found in a lake while the candidate is making TV commercial. From here we follow private investator Danny O'Brien as he makes it a personal quest to find out what happened to the dead body. Silver City turns into a murder mystery with a bit of romance and politics. Federal and local issues are cover, from illegal immigrants to environmental issues to real estate development to political posturing. With the election coming up in November, this movie is worth seeing to take a break from what's really happening in America today.

The cast has several well known faces and some we haven't seen on the big screen for a while. Richard Dreyfuss gives us another typical performance as the SOB who is in charge of the campaign. Is it just me or is this all Dreyfuss can do anymore? He fills the void but the rest of the cast gets better from there. Billy Zane plays a sleazy state lobbyist working every angle he can to make a buck. He also becomes part of a love triangle that turns up. Kris Kristofferson has a cameo and some of the best lines in the movie as the man (and his giant corporation) behind the candidate. Daryl Hannah shows up briefly as the "black sheep" sister of the candidate, which takes us to Chris Cooper as Dickie Pilager the next Governor of Colorado. His spoof on George W. is amazing; it makes the movie worth seeing by itself. Rounding out the cast are performances by Thora Birch, Tim Roth and several other familiar faces you might not be able to name off the top of your head.

"The Comedy is that it's serious..."
The movie moves along pretty quickly into the investigation of the dead body and takes us deeper into the subplots of political and personal motives including the transformation of Silver City into a retirement community from the environmental hellhole it is. I find politics to be dull. For the common man not much affects our daily lives. Danny feels this way too and he is able to do something that will affect the entire state of Colorado. By the end of the movie you're pretty attached to Danny, his old girlfriend (who is hooked up with Zane's character) and even the dead body as we find out what happened to it/him. All of the subplots are wrapped up at the end, with a nice touch. A bit of a "happily ever after" and "shit hitting the fan" happens all at once.

Even if this movie isn't your thing you should at least check out the web site. It's set up as the official campaign site for Dickie Pilager so you won't find it by searching for movie title. The site alone is quite funny in the similarities with the real presidential candidates out there right now. As Dickie says "Vote Early,Vote Often".