Compared to City of Hope, the director's fine state-of-the- American-city drama, this seems overpopulated and scattershot.
Comment
09/16/04
Silver City (2004)
48
%
Tomatometer
How does the Tomatometer work 
Reviews Counted:124
Fresh:59
Rotten:65
Average Rating:5.5/10
Consensus: Heavy-handed and often dull.
Runtime: 2 hrs 13 mins
Genre: Dramas
Synopsis: During a gubernatorial race in small-town Colorado, a mystery is uncovered involving a dead body found in a local lake. A private detective, Danny (Danny Huston), is hired by the governor-to-be's... [More]
Starring: Danny Huston, Maria Bello, Billy Zane, Chris Cooper
Director: John Sayles
Reviews for Silver City
The storytelling is slack and lackluster, the cliches rampant.
09/16/04
Leaving aside Huston's bland acting and a few other flaws, Sayles's politically charged drama raises a rousing number of issues and ideas, inviting us to ponder them and draw our own conclusions.
09/16/04
It's an informed if skeptical look at the shady maneuvering, backslapping and arm-twisting that goes on behind the scenes in political campaigns, though in this case the story is fictional.
09/16/04
This is certainly lesser Sayles, shrill, cluttered, even a little silly in its heavy-handedness. But it is still watchable, with beautifully understated performances.
09/16/04
Sayles wants to win our minds, and maybe our hearts. but once again, he ignores the seduction process.
09/16/04
With more than 20 major speaking roles, this is an ambitious project by Sayles' indie standards. He handles that dimension of the project deftly. Where he bites off more than he can chew is in trying to make two movies into one.
09/16/04
A thought-provoking and searing portrait of a country foundering in greed and cynicism, no longer a land of dreams but a nightmare of lapsed ethics and stinking moral rot.
09/16/04
A satire that's as subtle as a bulldozer.
09/16/04
A pretty good film that will likely feel dated by the next presidential election.
09/16/04
May be the mustiest political-conspiracy tale ever filmed; it's like Chinatown rewritten by Ralph Nader.
09/16/04
Instead of tracing character paths, Sayles sacrifices solid storytelling in favor of forwarding a political (and environmental) ideology.
09/16/04
Man, it's tough sitting through a satire made by somebody with no sense of humor -- welcome to Talking Points: The Movie.
09/15/04
Fails to allow the talented ensemble ... time to develop Sunshine State's fine, Altmanesque ensemble feel, again and again missing the human and leaving cartoons that satisfy only as agitprop.
09/15/04
Silver City is easily the weakest film to come out of John Sayles, but he is still head and shoulders above his competition.
09/15/04
It doesn't pretend that politics and business are decoupled, that the little guy can pull off the upset, or that the bottom line is anything other than money. It's refreshing, albeit grim, to see a movie that's not afraid of telling these truths.
09/14/04
Sayles, it seems, doesn't think much of his audience, and the tone of his discourse is only nominally less pandering than a politician's.
09/14/04
Sayles strives for the Chinatown of modern political movies and winding up with an unfocused mishmash of his earlier efforts.
09/13/04
Sayles reigns in his large and talented cast and keeps the loose ends from strangling his narrative.
09/13/04
While it's overlong and unhurried, the film is consistently absorbing, intelligent and often bitterly funny in its own subdued way.
09/13/04
Top CriticLatest News for Silver City
August 16, 2005:
Three More Climb Aboard "X-Men 3"
Stax over at IGN Filmforce has scored a nifty little exclusive that may prove interesting to you "X-Man" fans: Bill Duke, Michael Murphy, and Olivia Williams have... More...
What’s Hot On RT
Other News
Fresh Links
Featured
RT on YouTube 
Subscribe to RT's YouTube channel and don't miss a second of our cracking video content.
RT on Twitter
Follow Rotten Tomatoes and join us as we tweet about the week's releases.
IGN RSS Feeds