As you may have guessed from the title, it's a western; and as you may have guessed from the year of release, it's not very serious as westerns go. The casting provides a further clue to the latter: It includes Kevin Kline and, in a smaller role, John Cleese. Oh, it's not A Fish Called Wanda with twang; the humorous aspects are secondary to the adventure and occasionally solemn drama. (Netflix calls it "fast-paced," but it allows some tense pauses a la Sergio Leone.) Still funnier than the overrated Cat Ballou in my book.
Also starring are Jeff Goldblum, Danny Glover, and Scott Glenn (have a few G surnames), not to mention a Kevin Costner no less athletic than in Bull Durham and Field of Dreams. In total, there are four heroes, loosely banding together as they've all faced injustices, whether from insufficient law enforcement or an excess thereof, and aim to combat further injustices. Glover naturally brings a racial theme into play -- awakening me to the notion that I might have done better to pick a western with American Indians in it for this week. Oh well.
Women? Just two or three of any importance to the plot. They don't interact much with each other, and mainly they serve as bargaining chips or sources of contention between men. But at least one gets a piece of the action, helping to save a hero and stop a villain.
When I say it's not a very serious western, I also mean that it lacks the moral brooding common to classics. The film never calls upon us to question who or what is right. The heroes, while not entirely innocent, are not antiheroes either, and the villains are clearly power-hungry scoundrels and thieves. Quite a few of them at that, so the heroes can rack up a substantial body count without losing our implicit support. Don't worry; the violence isn't hard to watch. Sometimes the action gets somewhat innovative.
In short, Silverado is about what I expected from the '80s: simple-minded fun with a mostly happy ending. I don't mind that at all.
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