Silverado (1985)

Scott Glenn is Emmett, a man fresh out of a five-year stint in prison for killing a man in self defense.

He’s headed to the town of Turley to reunite with younger brother Jake (Kevin Costner), then bound for Silverado to see his sister before the brothers begin the trek of California.

Along the way, he comes across a man named Paden (Kevin Kline), lying in the desert, having been robbed by four cowboys he was traveling with.

They make their way to Turley together, only to find Jake in jail, scheduled to be hanged. It all started because he kissed a girl, apparently the wrong girl.

Naturally, a jailbreak is called for. During their getaway, they’re helped by a black man named Mal (Danny Glover). He’s headed to the Silverado area too, summoned by a mother who says the family needs his help.

Turns out Silverado is a thriving, but corrupt town, ruled by a lawman named Cobb (Brian Dennehy), who was put in that position by a cattle king named McKendrick (Ray Baker).

McKendrick is a land-hungry man, determined to drive away the newly arrived homesteaders Emmett and his companions led to Silverado.

He’s also determined to get even with Emmett. That’s because the man Emmett served time for killing was McKendrick’s relative.

Kevin Kline as Paden, the cowboy left in the desert to die in Silverado (1985)

Scott Glenn as Emmett, searching for his brother in Silverado (1985)

Review:

A rousing, good old-fashioned Western, complete with dastardly villains, heroes facing long odds and just a touch of romance thrown in for good measure.

This marked Costner’s first Western — he’s only fifth-billed — and his character is a young, fun-loving, risk-taking, pretty-girl kissing cowboy, a role he takes a bit over the top.

Kevin Kline and Scott Glenn are the steady hands here; Brian Dennehy the grinning bad guy. Linda Hunt turns in a fine performance as the height-challenged woman who runs the saloon in Silverado.

That said, directors clearly didn’t know what to do with the Rosanna Arquette part. Her husband, one of the homesteaders, is killed early in the film, at which point Paden takes an interest in her.

Until he realizes she’s more interested in farming than romance, at which point he gives Emmett permission to woo her. Supposedly, most of the footage featuring her character wound up on the cutting room floor.

Ah, but that’s a minor complaint considering the film offers a fun romp through the West at a time when big-budget Westerns of its ilk were few and far between and those with original story lines even more uncommon.

Kevin Costner as Jake, Emmett’s younger brother in Silverado (1985)

Danny Glover as Mal, headed back to Silverado to help his family in SIlverado (1985)

Directed by:
Lawrence Kasdan

Cast:
Kevin Kline … Paden
Scott Glenn … Emmett
Rosanna Arquette … Hannah
John Cleese .. Sheriff Langston
Kevin Costner … Jake
Brian Dennehy … Cobb
Danny Glover … Mal
Jeff Goldblum … Slick
Linda Hunt … Stella
Ray Baker … McKendrick
Joe Seneca … Erza
Lynn Whitfield … Rae
Jeff Fahey … Tyree
Pepe Serna … Scruffy
Patricia Gaul … Kate
Amanda Wyss … Phoebe
Earl Hindman … J.T.
James Gammon … Dawson
Tom Brown … Augie

Runtime: 133 min.

Brian Dennehy as Cobb, the man who’s law in Silverado in Silverado (1985)

Ray Baker as McKendrick, the man who wants all the land around Silverado in Silverado (1985)

Memorable lines:

Paden, about being left in the desert by four cowboys he was riding with: “At least they didn’t kill me. That was right considerate, I thought.”

Cavalry officer: “How do I know this is your horse?”
Paden, smooching with his bay: “Can’t you see this horse loves me?”
Officer: “Had a gal that did that to me. Didn’t make her my wife.”

Cobb: “You owe me 13 dollars.”
Paden: “Bad luck.”

Deputy: “They won’t be out of our jurisdiction til they hit Flat Top.”
Sheriff Langston, as a bullet takes the hat off his head: “Today, my jurisdiction ends here.”

Dawson: “Mind? You brought a posse to my best hideout and you ask it I mind?”

Rosanna Arquette as Hannah, determined to start a farm out West in Silverado (1985)

Linda Hunt as Stella, manager of Cobb’s saloon in Silverado (1985)

Hannah: “After awhile, I won’t be so pretty. But this land will be.”

Mal: “I had my fill of what ain’t right.”

Stella to Paden, as he admires the ramp she uses to overcome her short stature: “The world is what you make of it, friend. If it doesn’t fit, you make alterations.”

Jake: “All I did was kissed the girl.”
Paden: “That’s what you said in Turley. Remember how that ended (with Jake facing a hangman’s noose for killing a man)?”

Mal to Tyree, warning him not to pull a gun: “I don’t want to kill you. And you don’t want to be dead.”

Cobb to Mal: “We’re gonna give you a fair trial. Followed by a first-rate hanging.”

Jeff Goldblum as Slick, the gambler from back East in Silverado (1985)

Jeff Fahey as Tyree, one of Cobb’s deputies in Silverado (1985)

John Cleese as Sheriff Langston, lawman in Turley in Silverado (1985)

Saloon girls Pheobe (Amanda Wyss), Jake’s girlfriend, and Rae (Lynn Whitfield), Mal’s sister, in SIlverado (1985)