There are films that are well-made and succeed doing what they are supposed to do, yet the general impression is sometimes almost inexplicably underwhelming. The author of this review experienced such phenomenon while watching Silverado, 1985 western produced and directed by Lawrence Kasdan.
The plot is set in 1880s New Mexico and the protagonists are four men who, each for their own reasons, travel to town of Silverado. They are silent cowboy Emmett (played by Scott Glenn) and his immature brother Jake (played by Kevin Costner), reformed outlaw and ex-convict Paden (played by Kevin Kline) and black farmer Mal (played by Danny Glover). Along the way they meet and help each other and when they finally arrive in Silverado, they discover that the town is run by Cobb (played by Brian Dennehy), Paden’s old friend who became sheriff. He offers Paden job at saloon, but Cobb is actually on the payroll of McKendrick (played by Ray Baker), rich and powerful rancher who wants to chase settlers from the area, including members of Emmet’s and Mal’s respective families. All this leads to escalating and increasingly violent conflict in which four men would have to use all of their gunfighting skills.
Made in time when many considered western to be dead, script by brothers Lawrence and Mark Kasdan looks like an attempt not only to revive the genre, but the satisfy the apparent hunger for good old western action on the big screen. Silverado features not only plenty of gunfights, but also tries to stuff as much western cliches as possible – arrogant local tycoons, corrupt sheriff, prison escapes, gambling at salloons and obligatory final gunfighting showdown. Unlike revisionist westerns and parodies of the 1970s, Silverado plays them all straight, trying to look and feel like the way westerns were at their prime in 1950s and 1960s. This effort was aided by great cinematography by John Bailey and soundtrack by Bruce Broughton that would remind many of Elmer Bernstein’s classics. Kasdan has also gathered huge, diverse and rather respectable cast of which young Kevin Costner made most of it, launching his future career as top Hollywood star. Unfortunately, the large cast is also film’s main flaw. By making Silverado an ensemble piece, Kasdan felt bound to bring large number of characters and, as result, plot became complicated, running time too long and some of those characters underwritten (like settler woman played by Rosanna Arquette) or simply unecessary (like morally ambiguous gambler played by Jeff Goldblum). An interesting addition is John Cleese is small but memorable role of pragmatic English sheriff. Although Silverado failed to make great impression at the box office, it still can be recommended to the audience hungry for good old westerns .
RATING: 6/10 (++)
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Movie URL: https://www.themoviedb.org/movie/11509-silverado Critic: AA
