MILLER'S CROSSING (1990) A Film Review by Ted Prigge Copyright 1998 Ted Prigge
Director: Joel Coen Writers: Joel and Ethan Coen Starring: Gabriel Byrne, Albert Finney, Marcia Gay Harden, Jon Polito, John Turturro, J.E. Freeman, Mike Starr, Al Mancini, Steve Buscemi, Michael Jeter, Danny Aiello III, Richard Woods, Frances McDormand
With the Brothers Coen finally getting the recognition they deserve, what with the whole "Fargo" thing and "The Big Lebowski" opening in a couple days in wide release, so it's really a blast going back and retracing their entire filmography to see how exactly they arrived at what seems to be the pinnacle of their career thus far (back to the whole "Fargo" spiel). "Miller's Crossing," their third film, is a nice combination of story, substance, and style, as well as being one of the most underrated films dealing with gangsters, and is actually one of their best films.
"Miller's Crossing" is named after the place in the forest where the gangsters in this movie go to shoot some of their more pestful problems, and is the location for the big twist in the movie, where the protagonist makes a fatal decision because of a cheap and stupid reason. The protagonist is Tom Reagan (Gabriel Byrne), an Irish gangster working for the big political boss in town, Leo (Albert Finney), who not only controls the police, but also the various mafiasos in town.
One of them, run by the eccentric Italian Johnny Casper (Coen Brothers' regular Jon Polito), is an angry at Leo over the proposed assasination of a little gangster rat, Bernie Bernbaum (John Turturro), who just happens to the brother of Leo's girl, Verna (Marcia Gay Harden). In the first scene, an almost-parody of the opening of "The Godfather," Casper asks Leo to have him killed, but Leo won't budge. However, Leo doesn't know that his right-hand man, Tom, is screwing Verna on the side, and she seems to the person who the characters revolve around.
Soon, Tom and Leo find themselves at odds over her, and Leo kicks Tom out of his job, so he crosses over to Casper's side, who's trying to overthrow Leo throughout the film with the help of his menacing henchman, Eddie Dane (J.E. Freeman). As the film goes on, Tom tries to manipulate everything, but towards the middle of the film, rats on where Bernie is, and finds himself with the task of shooting him at Miller's Crossing. Here's where the big twist lies, and it sets the stage for the rest of this film, which reaches a fateful conclusion.
The story, which is extremely labyrinthine and complex, is nevertheless one that is endlessly fascinating, as we're introduced to a wide variety of wacky and eccentric supporting characters, such as the homosexual annoyance Mink (Steve Buscemi, in a one-scene role), and two hitmen working for Casper, named Frankie and Tic-Tac (Mike Starr and Al Mancini, respectively). The world of the Coen brother is always intriguing in all their films, as they allow every character to have a distinct personality and various weird quirks. While some may argue that the world of David Lynch's is much more weird and thus more interesting, the Coens combine style with a better grasp on all their characters and an overall better control over their world.
What's most interesting about "Miller's Crossing" is how it's always interesting and fun to watch, but how it also has an interesting take on the world of classical gangsterdom. The men in this movie may seem to dominate, but most of them have a soft spot for women, especially seductive women. Poor Marcia Gay Harden is burdened with the role of being the woman who is manipulating everyone whether she likes it or not. Not only is Leo reluctant to have her brother killed for fear that she won't marry him, but also Tom, who seems all cold, is smitten by her. What do you think is on his mind in the famous Miller's Crossing scene of this film? Is he really influenced by Bernie's "Look into your heart" pleas? Gangster pics should always present an interesting and if possible original take on gangsters, and that's what "Miller's Crossing" does. It's a film that shows that women really ran the show.
But besides that, the style of the Coens, which is eccentric and wild, is clearly here, not only in how they handle the camera and cinematography (by none other than director Barry Sonnenfeld), but also in how they present their story. This film is filled with lots of black comedy and various cartoonish effects. Who can keep a straight face in the scene where a little boy steals the toupee off of a corpse in the streets? And who doesn't giggle every time Tom picks up his hat after it being knocked off? Even the violence in this film is handled with cartoonish effect: take a scene where Tom is beaten around by a bunch of guys and all he gets is a lip bleed - this film is almost as cartoonishly violent as another 1990 release, "Dick Tracy" (although this is considerably more graphic).
The acting in Coen Brothers films is always over-the-top and just this shade of camp, but they're always pretty amazing. Here, we get a barage of wonderful performances from everyone, like Gabriel Byrne's wonderfully stone-faced performance, hiding himself under his facade; Marcia Gay Harden playing oblivious to what she's doing and ending up showing a different side of the traditional mob moll; John Turturro's wonderfully energetic performance; Steve Buscemi's wacky little cameo; Mike Starr doing another fine small role as a doofish hitman; J.E. Freeman exhuming scariness, and being one of the absolute best things about this movie; and, of course, Albert Finney's brilliant work (as usual), portraying Leo as not being a monster, but really being a tough but gentle man, albeit being a bit on the ignorant and naive side. Also, look for Coen wife (I can't believe I forget which one she's married to) Frances McDormand in a small role as a mayoral secretary.
And what about all those magnificent cinematic treats, like the scene where Leo beats up Tom after discovering he's been sleeping with his girl; the scene where Tom is forced to go kill Bernie in the woods; a later intense scene where Tom is dragged back to the woods; a masterfully frightening scene in a dark room with a blazing fire where Eddie tries to kill Tom; and, of course, the famed "Danny Boy" sequence, which is one of the best directed scenes I've ever viewed. The Coen Brothers definitely have a knack for creating beautifully layered films with lots of cinematic goodies, like these, which linger in the mind long after the film has ended.
I remember watching "Miller's Crossing" years ago when I was watching all of their films for the first time, and not being really impressed with it. But rewatching it, I was absolutely blown away. It's a film that almost requires multiple viewings, not because of the complex story, but for the sheer pleasure of watching it. It's the kind of film that blows you away with its amazing style, and intriguing and darkly comical take on the role of the gangster, and even if it doesn't impress you the first time, trust me and give it another try. Trust me anyway.
MY RATING (out of 4): ****
Homepage at: http://www.geocities.com/Hollywood/Hills/8335/
The review above was posted to the
rec.arts.movies.reviews newsgroup (de.rec.film.kritiken for German reviews).
The Internet Movie Database accepts no responsibility for the contents of the
review and has no editorial control. Unless stated otherwise, the copyright
belongs to the author.
Please direct comments/criticisms of the review to relevant newsgroups.
Broken URLs inthe reviews are the responsibility of the author.
The formatting of the review is likely to differ from the original due
to ASCII to HTML conversion.
Related links: index of all rec.arts.movies.reviews reviews