And this week's Friday night movie has been... Silverado!
I enjoy westerns. They continue to be one of my favorite movie genres and one I keep returning to. However, what is of particular interest is that this genre is, more or less, a dead one. Whilst westerns may have been abundant in the pre-sixties era of filmmaking, they had fallen seriously out of favour since. Aside from moments of reinvention (ie The Wild Bunch and The Good The Bad and The Ugly) and some genuine gems (Unforgiven), the western has never enjoyed the attention it once did and now looks like quite the antique. And it is interesting to see if a similar fate awaits other movie genres (rom-coms anyone?).
Which brings me to Silverado. A western made in the eighties and a clear attempt to breathe new life into a dead genre. That much is obvious given we see some stars of the day cast against type (Kevin Costner being an energetic loose cannon; John Cleese being a sheriff; Jeff Goldblum being a shady gambler) and there is some real love for the genre, and westerns past, being put to good use. And perhaps that is this movie's greatest strength: it ditches the revisionist approach of post-sixties westerns in favour of a more earnest approach, which celebrates the genre. Sure all the familiar tropes are here but that's kind of the point. And I surely can't be the only one who was reminded of High Noon in the final showdown.
But considering that this movie was written and directed by Lawrence Kasdan - who come to prominence through his work on Star Wars (Empire Strikes Back) - a saga built on a movie which was a celebration of one's love of movies, should this come as a surprise?
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