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Todd McCarthy, Variety:
"The sins of the fathers are distinctly visited upon
the sons in this loosely knit yarn, with the characters
literally haunted by the ghosts of those they wronged.
Result is an unpalatable combination of prairie
melodrama, Greek tragedy, Japanese ghost tale and
traveling minstrel show, staged with little sense of
style and film rhythm."
Steven Rea, Philadelphia Inquirer:
"Something deep and allegorical could be going on here,
but 'Silent Tongue' is at once so overwrought and
desert-dull that you can't be bothered to investigate."
Caryn James, NY Times:
"'Silent Tongue' deals with mysticism, history and the
kind of profound family tangle that echoes his best
plays/ But while 'Silent Tongue' is powerfully connected
to Mr. Shepard's dramas, here he truly becomes a
filmmaker. He composes eloquent pictures within the vast
space of the plains, and uses his images to tell a story
layered with meaning."
Moria Reviews:
"What the film needs is a more straightforward director,
one who would have opted for the epic shots and probably
a more traditional view of ghosts, rather than Shepard’s
chiaroscuro dramatic style. There is a good story inside
the film but it unfortunately has been buried in the
method of telling."
John Petrakis, Chicago Tribune:
"Although 'Silent Tongue' is difficult in places, and
chock-full of more symbols than a graduate seminar on
Hawthorne, it is a strangely satisfying and challenging
piece of work, one that illustrates how elements of
cinema, literature and theater can work in tandem,
thanks to a recipe that is one part Poe and two parts
Shakespeare."
Time Out:
"Writer/director Sam Shepard's western is a curious
throwback to the grubby eccentricities of '70s
'revisionist' oaters, laced with brooding mysticism and
the playwright's familiar emotional violence. The film
is shot in 'Scope, and there's an awful lot of space
here. The landscape is so expansive, it seems to have
driven its few inhabitants over the edge into drink or
despair."
Alvaro Rodriguez, Austin Chronicle:
It's obvious that Shepard has a certain love for his
subject, and he has made a compelling film. Like a good
yarn, it is strengthened by over-the-top acting from
Bates and Phoenix. Harris is remarkably subdued (no
“Camelot” speeches here). Tousey as the spirit of
Awbonnie is absolutely frightening, her face made up to
be half-human, half-monster, and it is her performance
that shines brightest."
Empire Magazine:
"With its cache of salt-of-the-earth actors, garrulously
defining themselves against the endless plains, and the
lean, otherworldly feel, Silent Tongue scores as a
rewarding, idiosyncratic venture, even if it does become
indecipherably surreal by the end."
Brian J. Dillard, Allmovie.com:
"This shotgun wedding between Shakespearean tragedy
and movie Western would be intriguing if it weren't so
hopelessly mannered. The strongest elements are the
production design, which evokes a sort of baroque
dustbowl frontier, and Jack Conroy's cinematography,
which gives the proceedings an appropriately desiccated
air."
Peter Travers, Rolling Stone:
"'Silent Tongue' is not a great film, but it aspires to
be. You can feel Shepard trying to cut through
conventions and get at something deep-rooted, vital and
affecting."
Glenn Kenny, EW:
"The lone lure of this supernatural Western is a truly
possessed performance by River Phoenix in his last
completed role. And while Richard Harris has been doing
good work of late, his teaming with fellow Englishman
Alan Bates seems to have inspired some recidivist
scenery chewing. Auteur Sam Shepard tries mightily but
is too inexperienced in the director’s chair to give
Silent Tongue's tale of death, revenge, and madness the
visual flair it cries out for."
TV Guide:
"Shepard seems to be trying to fashion an American
magical realism--one in which ghosts are free to wander
among the living, resolving the contradictions of our
violent past. But unlike Shepard's best work for the
stage, 'Silent Tongue" seems to lack a clear theme and a
controlling intelligence. Too often, the mystical mise-en-scene
and strange doings are left to speak for themselves, as
though Shepard hopes that his film will be assumed to be
profound because it is incomprehensible."
Kevin Thomas, LA Times:
"The contributions of cinematographer Jack Conroy,
production designer Cary White, costume designer Van
Ramsey and composer Patrick O’Hearn couldn’t be more
appropriately moody and atmospheric. 'Silent Tongue' has
a sophisticated concern for textures and authentic
details; this is one Western set in 1873 that doesn’t
have 1910 props. In its best moments, Bates’ seedy
caravan recalls in its mix of period quaintness and
frank sensuality Ingmar Bergman’s tiny traveling circus
in 'Sawdust and Tinsel.' Ultimately, however, the title
of 'Silent Tongue' becomes ironic for a movie that talks
too much."
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