Review: Silverado

Kevin Kline plays Paden, whom when we meet him is wearing simply his long johns, and is in a sorry state after apparently having been abandoned by his comrades out in the middle of the desert. They took his guns, clothes, and even his horse. Thankfully, he is soon joined by Emmett (Scott Glenn), who is handy with a gun, and who also has a spare horse for Paden. He’s still gotta wear those pink pyjamas, however. Waltzing into the nearest town, Paden finds the bastard who stole his horse, but he can only afford the cheapest of guns that looks like it’s barely stitched together. Nonetheless, it gets the job done effectively enough. Before long, Paden and Emmett come across an African-American fella (Danny Glover) being subjected to the usual ‘we don’t serve ‘yer kind here!’ treatment at a local saloon. It’s also here that Emmett finds out through the polite but prick local sheriff (played by John Cleese!) that Emmett’s reckless younger brother Jake (Kevin Costner) is about to get hanged. Other characters turning up include the local saloon keeper (Linda Hunt), the widowed homesteader (Rosanna Arquette), and Paden’s former comrade Cobb, who has found himself a visage of respectability as town sheriff (and owner of Hunt’s saloon), but he is really a power-hungry bully. Jeff Fahey (in his feature film debut) plays Cobb’s chief henchman, Joe Seneca plays Glover’s crotchety estranged father, and Jeff Goldblum plays a gambler aptly named Slick.

I’ve seen this Lawrence Kasdan (“Body Heat”, “The Big Chill”, “Grand Canyon”) western from 1985 several times over the years and each time I come away thinking much the same thing: Why don’t I like this thing more? Well, this time I think I’ve cracked the code. There’s too many characters, for one thing. Everybody is fighting for screen time here, to the point where poor Jeff Goldblum and John Cleese feel like they could’ve really stood out…except that they just don’t get the screen time here to do so. Goldblum is a wonderful, idiosyncratic actor when given the chance and in the right role, and his opportunistic gambler character is a workable western archetype. It’s just that here it feels like there’s several scenes with him that were left on the cutting room floor. I highly doubt that Kasdan and co-writer/brother Mark meant for his character to be quite as ambiguous and vague as it ultimately plays, given how well-written most of the other characters are. As for Cleese, he makes for a good, gentlemanly prick, but somehow leaves you disappointed. The reason why his casting never quite comes off has nothing to do with his fine performance, it’s the role itself. It’s so tiny that his atypical casting (as a well-known comedic star) in such a tiny, serious role is head-scratching, and before you have the time to get to the bottom of it, he’s gone and never to return. He is completely wasted, and perhaps a lesser-known person should’ve been cast instead.

 

Another problem is the plot. There really isn’t much of one, when you think about it. Kasdan is quite clearly a filmmaker most adept with character, and that is to the film’s both benefit and detriment. The story just isn’t a grabber, and with all of these (too many) characters running around, it slows the pacing quite a bit and meanders. The other thing that prevents this film from being better than it is, is the lead casting of Kevin Kline. Kline is a very fine, likeable actor who is usually an asset to any film (especially “A Fish Called Wanda”, “I Love You to Death”, “Chaplin”, and “The Ice Storm”). Here, however, as likeable as he and his character in the film are (I like how his bushy beard and hat make him look like ‘Gabby’ Hayes), the character just isn’t right for the lead role in a western.

 

I appreciate that this is an offbeat western with mostly atypical characters, and the only dud performance in the entire film comes from Rosanna Arquette, not Kline. However, Kline’s rather reticent character just isn’t strong enough in presence in a western, offbeat or not. This is especially noticeable when he goes up against the main heavy, played excellently by the underrated Brian Dennehy. One of the best actors to never be nominated for an Oscar (along with Donald Sutherland, Edward G. Robinson, and Christopher Lee), Dennehy excels as the old acquaintance who hasn’t left the life of criminality as far behind as Kline has, despite actually becoming a supposed lawman. He has the perfect combination of likeability and menace for the part and steals his every scene…that doesn’t involve Linda Hunt. The diminutive Hunt, a terrific character actress, has one of those irresistible, colourful character parts (possibly stunt casting, but so what?) that see her one of the three most memorable performers in the film. The third is a young-ish Kevin Costner, cast by Kasdan perhaps to make up for cutting him out of “The Big Chill”. Cast as a lively, dopey, yet wily gunslinger, he’s a whole lot of exuberant fun. It’s the kind of entertaining, showy performance that the mostly stoic actor would never really repeat again. If it weren’t for Dennehy, Costner might just have been the big standout actor in the film, it’s one of his best-ever roles. Cast as Costner’s older, more weathered cowboy brother, Scott Glenn fits the role and the genre like a glove. His cracker of an opening scene pretty much has him doing a James Coburn in “The Magnificent Seven”. Meanwhile, Danny Glover offers sturdy support, even if he’s not the muscular, brawling Jim Brown-type you feel the part really requires. He’ll do, and Joe Seneca is fantastic as his bitter old man. What a terrific character actor he is, with gravel-voiced James Gammon also getting a great bit as a villainous gang leader. Steely-eyed, stringy-haired Jeff Fahey is well-cast in a Timothy Carey-ish part as Dennehy’s chief henchman. Look out for an uncredited Brion James in one of the least villainous roles of his career, playing a mere wagon train rider.

 

Perhaps the high point of the entire film is the rousing Oscar-nominated music score by Bruce Broughton (“The Monster Squad”, “The Rescuers Down Under”, “Tombstone”), though John Bailey (“American Gigolo”, “Crossroads”) gets the easy but appreciated task of filming some absolutely lovely scenery. It’s a well-made picture in many respects, actually, but the great little things don’t add up to an entirely great film.

 

An offbeat, somewhat light-hearted western that displays a whole slew of interesting characters, but there’s too many of them, to keep the pacing from slowing down. Combine that with a lack of plot and a too passive lead character and you have a film full of interesting elements that certainly is never boring, but never quite comes together like you feel it should. There’s some great stuff here, but the film is just slightly above average.

 

Rating: B-