Miller's Crossing

To be honest, I did not truly understand or rightfully digest Miller's Crossing until hours and even days after I watched the film for the very first time. Going into the film, I knew it was a Coen Brothers film and was about gangsters. That's all I knew. Would it be compared to Goodfellas (which ironically was released the same weekend in 1990) or The Godfather? The opening scene where the two gang (Irish versus Italian) rivals met actually was an homage to the Francis Ford Coppola classic. In hindsight, I learned what a powerful film this was. It is a Coen Brothers film in every sense. That means sharp, lyrical dialogue, impressive if slightly oddball characters, and a style unique to the Coen Brothers. The cinematography from Barry Sonnenfeld is very impressive. The sequence with Gabriel Byrne and John Turturro in the forest is a sweat-inducing example of how Sonnenfeld shot the film. Being labeled as a gangster film, I was mildly surprised about the lack of action sequences. There are some, yes, including a fiery shootout with Albert Finney, but the Coens used their words to craft the story. Do be warned. When violence occurs, it is abrupt and sudden. That adds to the power of the story. When you have the head of the Italian gang talking about "business ethics," you might want to put your thinking caps on. The Coens have their obvious gangster film influences, particularly from those made in the 1930's, but they also have their film noir influences. If anything, this film is a film noir packaged up as a gangster film. The film goes at its own pace and the Coens embellish in their style. People expecting something a la Goodfellas should prepare for disappointment. I originally felt let down, but the power of the Coens got to me in hindsight.

The Coen Brothers last film was the delightfully quirky Raising Arizona. If anyone can maintain that level of quirkiness despite a complete 180-degree genre shift, it is Joel and Ethan Coen. I would not necessarily say humor is prevalent, but it has a similar tone. These characters are more oddball than one would expect in something like...The Godfather. Yet, there are scenes of tension that rank with the best of them, especially that forest scene. I was ready to say goodbye to John Turturro's character immediately. But the Coens, of course, are smarter than that. Goes to show how masterful they are at writing and directing scenes. It is impressive they were able to complete this dense script. They had to put the script aside because of writer's block. Before they came back to this script, they wrote their next movie about a guy who has writer's block in a span of three weeks. I know some people were irked but I liked how the film's location was unknown. It was shot in New Orleans given its Prohibition-era architecture. In addition, this is a fine character study. It is about one man, Tom, who has no ambition or drive. It is about a man who plays both sides because he wants to. He uses intelligence rather than violence. He has an ambiguous moral code. And, of course, a woman is involved. A woman that drives the deeds of the Irish boss.

In this unknown city, all we know is that there is the gang war that takes place in the 1930's. Leo (Albert Finney) and his lieutenant Tom (Gabriel Byrne) control the city. Johnny Caspar (Jon Polito) heads the Italian gang and drives for power. He approaches Leo to ask to kill lowlife swarm Bernie (John Turturro). Leo says no which upsets Tom. From Leo's viewpoint, Bernie is Verna's (Marcia Gay Harden) brother. Verna is Leo's girl, so we see the conundrum here. It turns out that Tom was fooling around with Verna and is kicked out of the mob. Because of boredom, he decides to join Caspar's gang. He arouses Caspar's right-hand man, Eddie Dane's(J. E. Freeman) suspicion when he discovers he still contacts Verna and Bernie. Dane grows even more suspicious when Tom is personally ordered to kill Bernie. But did that really happen?

The Coen Brothers are able to make sharp, cynical screenplays but the actors need to breathe the words to life. They do more than that here. Gabriel Byrne never has been better. The film revolves around his character, and he has some fascinating arcs. His character is not out of place in a Humphrey Bogart film-noir. In a sense, this role reminded me of some of Bogart's more complex roles. Thankfully, Byrne is surrounded by a competent supporting cast. Bernie is written for John Turturro's capabilities! He is swarmy, a coward, and an important humor source. I did like Albert Finney's charismatic performance, even if his character is a little too naïve for my liking.

Coming off a successful picture in Raising Arizona, the Coen Brothers shifted gears to create a compelling gangster drama that requires patience. They maintained their style that gotten them popular in Hollywood. The cinematography is important for the storytelling (that forest scene, I tell ya). Let's not forget Carter Burwell's musical contributions. His score is based off traditional Irish music. Yes, you will hear "Danny Boy." I originally had a sense of disappointment because it is not a quick, right-in-your-face epic like Goodfellas. This is a slow burn that will capture you in a different way.

My Grade: B+

I was blown away by this film the first time I saw it. After giving myself a couple hours to shake off my dumbfounding amazement, I became addicted. This film has everything. It's witty in its dialogue, suspenseful in its action and violence, beautiful in its cinematography, and (being so like the Coen brothers) it can make you laugh and cringe in the same scene.

The script is superb. The characters are absorbing and the dialogue (as some reviewers have already observed) flows like words in a book. You have to watch some scenes more than once to totally get what's going on, and even then you still might miss something.

The acting is top-notch, even down to the lowest thug. Gabriel Byrne plays the antihero Tom to lonely perfection and Marcia Gay Harden's hooker without a golden heart is excellent. The rest of the cast is great as well, including good mobster Albert Finney and a funny cameo by Steven Buscemi. However, the show is stolen threefold by Jon Polito as the erratic Italian underboss Johnny Caspar, John Tuturro as the slimy "schmatta" Bernie Bernbaum and J.E. Freeman as Caspar's dark, vicious adviser/thug Eddie Dane. Jon Polito's monologue in the very beginning on ethics and Tuturro's desperate pleas at Miller's Crossing are both powerful scenes, and Freeman commands the screen whenever he is on.

My rating is a 10/10. The best part about this movie is that it gets better and better every time you watch it. Oh yeah...the Danny Boy scene is reason enough to watch this movie anyway.

In my modest opinion, this film is the Coen's greatest achievement to date, even greater than Fargo. I was happy to see so many recent entries on this page, because that means something I predicted long ago is coming true: film buffs are finally "discovering" Miller's Crossing, an underground masterpiece that has dwelt in obscurity for ten years.

The central motif of the hat, and Johnny Caspar's preoccupation with the altitude thereof, brings to mind another underrated masterpiece, Drugstore Cowboy. The complex Jungian symbolism of forests, doors and especially hats is my favorite aspect of the film.

The only criticism I've heard of this film (and I think it's B.S.) has to do with the "over-acting"--a criticism that has been directed at more than one Coen film. Admittedly, Coen screenplays read more like novels than movie scripts and are not always actor-friendly. Gabriel Byrne, who appears in all but two scenes, does a great job playing an extremely complicated character. Tom Reagan is a smart guy surrounded by morons, and exists in a scenario where only muscle counts and brains don't. And he hates it. And he hates himself because he knows he's all brains and no heart. He tries to redeem himself through a selfless devotion to Leo, whom he hates. All this makes for an immensely challenging part, and the film could easily have fallen apart with a lesser actor than Gabriel Byrne playing the lead.

But the acting is great from top to bottom: Marcia Gay Harden (in her big screen debut) as the hard-boiled moll; Jon Polito as the maniacal Johnny Caspar; Steve Buscemi as the hop-addicted Mink; J.E. Freeman, who is such a marvellous screen villain you have to wonder why he's still toiling in obscurity; and Albert Finney, an actor who embodies the term "screen presence." But the Grand Prix goes to John Turturro, who carries the most powerful scene in the movie: when Tom takes Bernie out to Miller's Crossing to "whack" him.

Another criticism frequently levelled against the Coens is that they are preoccupied with "scenes" and don't focus enough on plot coherence. This too is an invalid criticism, as far as I'm concerned. Some people are irritated by a film that you have to watch a couple times to fully understand, but that's precisely the kind of film that I love, and that's why I love Miller's Crossing so much. Every time I see it I pick up on something that I didn't catch before.

Speaking of "scenes", the "Danny Boy" scene is the best. The second best is the following scene, where Tom and Terry walk through a hallway lined with goons. The third is the police raid on the Sons of Erin Club, in which Leo takes on the entire police force.

I'll resist the temptation to call Miller's Crossing "The Greatest Film of All Time"--because who has the right to say that? But I must say that it is my favorite film of all time.

"I'm talkin' about friendship. I'm talkin' about character. I'm talkin' about--hell Leo, I ain't embarrassed to use the word--ethics." So Jon Polito, as crime-boss Johnny "Caspar," describes to his overlord, Albert Finney as "Leo," his point of view while seeking permission to kill a double-crossing underling (played by John Turturro) in the opening lines of __Miller's Crossing__. Had the script sought only to explore the power relationship between the two chief mobsters (one the rising Italian, the other the diminishing Irishman), this would have been a very good gangster film. It portrays an earlier era in the nation's history of organized crime (perhaps Chicago in the late '20s), and one can imagine Leo as the Irish predecessor of __The Godfather__'s Don Vito Corleone (Marlon Brando).

Just as __The Godfather__ was really about family relationships and the ethical complexities arising when familial loyalty collides with the business of violence, however, __Miller's Crossing__ is actually about, as Caspar tells us, friendship and character put under the enormous strain of that same business of violence. The film, therefore, centers on Leo's trusted adviser Tom (played flawlessly by the Irish actor Gabriel Byrne). Tom is not a gunsel, but the brain behind Leo's muscle. His decisions carry life and death consequences, however, and we watch him try to live with himself, to preserve his character, as he works out a code that will help him and his friends survive brutally violent upheavals. Critics of the film have cited its graphic cruelty and the seeming coldness of its characters, yet these are essential features in developing the film's theme.

Sentimentality might get any of the major characters killed, and one notes the pathos and dark humor that underline an ironic distance that each character, especially Tom, cultivates as a tool for survival.

Clues abound as we wonder what Tom will do next. Follow, for example, the men's hats over the course of the film. Who "keeps his lid on," so to speak, and who loses his? Note the number of times characters exclaim "Jesus!" or "Damn!" when saying the name "Tom." What has he sacrificed? Has he damned himself?

Spectacular action sequences, beautiful production values, top-notch camera work by Barry Sonnenfeld, a haunting musical score, and the best dialogue ever written by the Coen brothers make this a great gangster film. The fascinating and complex theme of friendship, character, and ethics make it one of the great films from any genre.

There are many new movies that have been released on DVD this year. Forget them, and pick up a copy of this movie. It has only recently become available on DVD. The unavailability of this movie on DVD for so many years has been a sin. I own this movie on laser disc and it is one of the reasons that I still have a laser disc player.

I cannot do a better job than the other reviewers have in pointing out what make this film so outstanding. Just let me repeat the usual: The casting is flawless; the dialogue is on the mark, with dozens of juicy bon mots; the humor is sublime; the cinematography is absolutely gorgeous; and the plot, while complex, is still comprehensible enough not to detract from the action.

This movie is as close to flawless as a movie can be.

And one more thing, this movie has nothing in common with either "Yojimbo" (which was itself a rip-off of Dashiel Hammett's "Red Harvest") or "Fistful of Dollars". Well, OK, I'll grant that they both take place in towns dominated by two strong gangs of criminals (as if that's never been the case in any other movie,) but the other plot elements and the dialogue are completely original.

**** out of ****