‘Silver’ not so shiny

JOHN DEPKO

The preview trailers for “Silver City” are full of scenes of obvious

political satire. Chris Cooper plays Richard Pilager, a verbally

challenged candidate for governor of Colorado who is owned and

operated by the state’s business interests. His father, a famous

senator, has provided the financial donors and spin doctors to

facilitate his son’s unlikely run for public office. The similarities

to critical views of the George W. Bush story are hardly subtle.

But if you go to this film expecting to see the movie suggested by

the previews, you will be disappointed. The B-movie plot centers on

an old-fashioned private eye murder mystery. The story begins with

the body of a migrant worker inconveniently surfacing in a local lake

during the filming of a Pilager campaign ad. From that point on, the

tale revolves around the solving of this homicide in a ho-hum,

paint-by-numbers fashion.

The promised political shenanigans are just a sideshow to the

lightweight crime drama on display. A partial comedy, there are some

funny moments and even a bit of uncomfortable truth about American

politics. But the stars of this piece are on view for little more

than cameo appearances. The total screen time for Richard Dreyfuss,

Kris Kristofferson and Miguel Ferrer can be measured in a few

minutes. Little-known, lower-paid actors take up the bulk of the

scenes we view.

Though amusing at times, “Silver City” has the look and feel of a

made-for-TV production that cries out: “Wait for the video!”

* JOHN DEPKO is a Costa Mesa resident and a senior investigator

for the Orange County public defender’s office.

‘Forgotten’ forgettable

The trailer for “The Forgotten” would have us believe this

thriller is certain to be as scary and surprising as “The Sixth

Sense.” The theme of a mother grieving for her son, only to be told

he never existed, appeals to our sense of family and our love of

government conspiracies. It features a beautiful and intelligent

actress, Julianne Moore, and an up-and-coming star, Dominic West

(from HBO’s “The Wire”).

Unfortunately, the only thing it can live up to is its title. “The

Forgotten” seems credible enough until the plot secret is revealed,

and then it’s all downhill from there.

Moore is very good as grieving mom Tally, who pores over photos,

videos and mementos of her dear Sam in almost ritualistic fashion.

Her therapist (Gary Sinise) and husband (Anthony Edwards) agree that

she has a “death grip” on the past, and it’s time for her to move on.

So, when Tally finds her son’s image has disappeared from a

favorite photo, and all of the family albums are bare, she is enraged

and blames her husband for this cruelty. He and Dr. Munce (Sinise)

gently tell her she never had a son; she’s been delusional all this

time. Uh-oh.

As they are talking about getting Tally a vest with wrap-around

arms, she bolts from the house and goes to her neighbor’s place. Ash

(West) is the boozy ex-NHL star who, according to Tally, lost his

daughter in the same plane crash that killed Sam. But Ash says he

never had a child. He calls the police, and then somehow, the

government gets involved. They are about to drive Tally away when Ash

runs up to her and says, hey, he did have a daughter. So now, true to

Hollywood tradition, we have two attractive people who suddenly find

they can outrun, outwit and certainly out-dress trained government

agents.

Only one person in authority, Det. Ann Pope (Alfre Woodard), seems

to believe these children existed. But just as she is saying this,

she is sucked out of the universe in the film’s one surprising and

original special effect. I wish the entire movie could have been

sucked out of existence and given me back my price of admission.

* SUSANNE PEREZ lives in Costa Mesa and is an executive assistant

for a financial services company.