Silver City

A deadpan, dead-on political satire, Silver City methodically skewers George W. Bush (by proxy), the spineless mainstream press (and their paranoid underground adversaries), the billion-dollar corporate machinery of candidate-making, and the general gullibility of the voting public--all within the inimitable interlocking-ensemble narrative style of writer-director John Sayles. The plot circles a dozen-odd characters around a scandal in the making, set in motion by the discovery of a corpse during the filming of a campaign ad for an inarticulately folksy, uncorrupt but "user-friendly" Colorado gubernatorial candidate (played to tongue-tied, Bush-mimicking exactitude by the subtly superlative Chris Cooper). His merciless attack-dog campaign manager (Richard Dreyfuss, channeling Bush puppet-master Karl Rove), convinced of a sinister conspiracy, hires a private investigator to intimidate rivals and other suspected saboteurs. But what he doesn't know is that his stooge (the complex, understated Danny Huston) is a disgraced, disenchanted, depressed ex-loose-cannon newspaper reporter about to rediscover his passion. The film has many minor flaws--including some arduous exposition and implausible confidences between virtual strangers--but Sayles' main goal is symbolic political scrutiny of current events, and on that count Silver City is a searing and ironically patriotic success. Recommended. [Note: DVD extras include audio commentary by writer-director-editor John Sayles and producer Maggie Renzi, a 34-minute “making-of” documentary, and a trailer gallery. Bottom line: a solid extras package for a biting, character-driven satire.] (R. Blackwelder)