howard@sfmag.UUCP (H.M.Moskovitz) (07/11/85)
I saw Silverado last night, and was generally pleased with the movie. However, there was one sore point about the casting. They cast John Cleese of Monty Pthon and Fawlty Towers fame as a SHERRIF! and Jeff Goldblum of Big Chill fame as a gambler who is a shnook bad-guy. The problem here is that neither man uses his immense talent for humor in the film at all. Cleese plays a very straight role as an Englishman working as a sherrif in a wild-west town, and takes himself verrry seriously. Goldblum has one funny line and that's it. These actors had the potential to lighten up the movie a bit and turn it from a decent big-screen western into a classic western smash. The big problem with the movie was a script that was clumsy at times coupled with a tendency to take itself too seriously. A more humorous performance by these gentlemen would have vastly improved the flow of the film. Howard Moskovitz AT&T Info. Systems attunix!howard
root@trwatf.UUCP (Lord Frith) (07/16/85)
In article <630@sfmag.UUCP> howard@sfmag.UUCP (H.M.Moskovitz) writes: > I saw Silverado last night, and was generally pleased with the movie. > However, there was one sore point about the casting. They cast John > Cleese of Monty Pthon and Fawlty Towers fame as a SHERRIF! and Jeff > Goldblum of Big Chill fame as a gambler who is a shnook bad-guy. > > The problem here is that neither man uses his immense talent for humor > in the film at all. Cleese plays a very straight role as an Englishman > working as a sherrif in a wild-west town, and takes himself verrry > seriously. A more humorous performance by > these gentlemen would have vastly improved the flow of the film. > > Howard Moskovitz ******************************** SLIGHT SPOILER ***************************** Had the producer/director turned Cleese loose, Silverado would have become a farce... and as a farce it would have fallen short of Blazing Saddles. I don't think the script would have been amenable to an all-out comedic treatment anyway. Didn't you find Cleese funny? I thought the underplayed humor was PERFECT for this film. "What's all this then" and "As you might have guessed I'm not from these parts" are GREAT lines! -- UUCP: ...{decvax,ihnp4,allegra}!seismo!trwatf!root - Lord Frith ARPA: trwatf!root@SEISMO "There is not a single McDonald's in Garrett County"
wilding@bdmrrr.UUCP (Matthew Wilding) (07/16/85)
> I saw Silverado last night, and was generally pleased with the movie. > However, there was one sore point about the casting. They cast John > Cleese of Monty Pthon and Fawlty Towers fame as a SHERRIF! and Jeff > Goldblum of Big Chill fame as a gambler who is a shnook bad-guy. > > The problem here is that neither man uses his immense talent for humor > in the film at all. John Cleese as the English sheriff tough guy who wears a badge on his tweed suit was, I thought, very funny. His role was humorous, only not the brand of humor found in Monty Python or Fawlty Towers (which I also like). I completely disagree with you - I thought Cleese's casting was inspired. As for Goldblum, he's not really all THAT funny - at least not yet - so his role was not that much of a disapointment. He did a faily good job. I liked the movie a lot and recommend it strongly. Be careful to note spoilers in your postings. (I added the spoilage line) Matt Wilding {seismo|rlgvax}bdmrrr!wilding
rsk@pucc-k (Wombat) (07/25/85)
I'm with you, Matt...Cleese was quietly hysterical as the town
marshall, and Goldblum made a perfect snide slimeball as the gambler.
However, I must admit that when Cleese walked onto the screen
for the first time, and said "What's all this then?", memories of endless
Monty Python episodes flashed through my mind, and I nearly dropped my
popcorn...but I think I was the only one in the theatre who got the joke.
--
Rich Kulawiec rsk@{pur-ee,purdue}.uucp, rsk@purdue-asc.csnet
rsk@purdue-asc.arpa or rsk@asc.purdue.edu