Silverado (1985)

Cast includes:
CHARACTER	ACTOR/ACTRESS	RATING
Paden	Kevin Kline
Emmett	Scott Glenn	½
Jake	Kevin Costner
Malachias "Mal" Johnson	Danny Glover
Sheriff Cobb	Brian Dennehy	½
Hannah	Rosanna Arquette
Sheriff John Langston	John Cleese
Calvin "Slick" Stanhope	Jeff Goldblum
Stella	Linda Hunt	½
Ezra Johnson	Joe Seneca
Ethan McKendrick	Ray Baker
August "Augie" Hollis	Thomas Wilson Brown
Tyree	Jeff Fahey
Rae Johnson	Lynn Whitfield
Phoebe	Amanda Wyss
Kelly	Richard Jenkins
Hobart	Brion James
Dawson	James Gammon
Cavalry Sergeant	Sheb Wooley
J. T. Hollis	Earl Hindman

Review

Classically told western with delightful 1980s vivacity and ditto timely thematics, realized and given weight by Lawrence Kasdan's confident direction. He was fresh off of The Big Chill at this point, a film which stands as a grown-up version of the burgeoning teen-dramas starring the Brat Pack. In Kasdan's films, the stars weren't 20-somethings, but more or less disillusioned middle-agers looking for a new path in life. The discussions in Silverado are no different in this respect, but the film has an impeccable ability for avoiding anachronisms just when you thought they’d materialize – and that is some achievement after casting Kevin Kline and Jeff Goldblum in a western. The film looks like the time it depicts, but this is not a dirty lawless western-world – at least not completely. There are signs of sophistication and order in the town of Silverado, something for which Kline's character Paden is a proponent. He's not a gunslinger because he enjoys it, but rather because it's a skill he has acquired after a long life in these environments. Kline's character and performance is one of the features which makes Silverado stand out and offer something a little different in this genre. His friendship with the brilliant Linda Hunt is a real movie gem. And to satisfy fans of the traditional western, Kasdan knows how to use an old recipe well. The script has just the right amount of intricacy and zest. Crowned by fine supporting performances by Kevin Costner, John Cleese, Joe Seneca, Richard Jenkins and the brilliant Brian Dennehy.