Film Review: Miller's Crossing (1990)

Joel and Ethan Coen earned their place among most celebrated American film makers not only because of high quality of their work, but also because of the versatility and ability to dabble with various genres. Not all of their efforts were successful and many of their films gained praise they don’t actually deserve. Thankfully, this wasn’t the case with their 1990 gangster film Miller’s Crossing, which is today justifiably .hailed as classic of the genre.

The plot is set in unnamed US city during Prohibition era. Protagonist, played by Gabriel Byrne, is Tom Regan, Irish American man who, despite series of sports bets that got him in financial trouble, remains trusted advisor to his old friend to Leo O’Bannon (played by Albert Finney), city’s political boss and head of organised crime. Italian gangster Johnny Caspar (played by Jon Polito) comes to Leo demanding that he removes protection from Bernie Bernbaum (played by John Turturro), Jewish bookie who sabotaged Caspar’s match fixing operation. Although Bernie happens to be his friend, Tom advises Leo to sacrifice him in order to keep the peace. Leo, however, refuses because Bernie’s sister Velma (played by Marcia Gay Harden) happens to be his mistress. In desperation, Tom admits Leo that he is seeing Velma too, which infuriates Leo and severs their friendship. After attempt on Leo’s life sparks war, Tom decides to join Caspar and his faction, trying both to survive and save his old friend.

One of the biggest problem for Coen brothers in their films was finding proper balance between style over substance. Same goes for the balance between narratives being given straight or with sometimes overwhelming irony. In their third film Coens managed to pass both test, at least for the most part, with flying colours. On strictly technical level, Miller’s Crossing is close to masterpiece. All scenes are brilliantly staged, cinematography by Barry Sonnenfeld, despite bright colours, perfectly encapsulates Prohibition-era America and creates perfect atmosphere during iconic execution scene in the forest. Same can be said for music score by Carter Burwell, which used motives of traditional Irish folk songs, created simple but memorable theme that makes film both epic and sentimental and would later be used in trailers and television commercials. Work on props, costumes and other period details was superb. Same can be said for the script which shows that Coens did their homework. Characters speak in authentic language with colourful slang phrases of the period, while the elements of the plot were inspired by novels of Dashiel Hammett. Some of the scenes give away influence by 1930s Classic Hollywood gangster films, while the opening scene represents somewhat of a parody of the opening scene in The Godfather.

In some ways, Miller’s Crossing is among Coens’ more conventional films. There is very little experimenting with camera work and the story is told straight, with nearly perfect pace that allows almost two hours of running time to go very smoothly. All this is achieved despite somewhat complicated plot with many characters and twists. Apart from Joel Coen’s direction, film benefits a lot from diverse and strong cast. Irish actor Gabriel Byrne, somewhat ironically, has least to do in what is supposed to be the main role. The protagonist is, for the most part, portrayed as imperfect, and at times passive man who often has to merely react to chaos created by more colourful but often less rational characters around him. For the most part, we aren’t sure whether Tom’s survival is the result of his brilliant insight or mere luck, and that mystery remains until the very end. Byrne’s cold but effective performance is well-matched by the rest of the cast. Albert Finney is good as an old man who, despite his experience that allowed him to build an empire, risks all because emotional attachment to woman who doesn’t deserve it, and who is played by icy determination by Marcia Gay Harden. Other character actors are even better, especially John Turturro in one of the best roles of his career. He displays character that is both despicable in his lack of ethics, arrogance and pathetic when things don’t go his way, but he nevertheless remains one of the most memorable characters in the history of gangster films. Jon Polito, one of the more underused character actors of his generation, is also great in semi-comical role of gangster who in his own twisted way tries to be “ethical”, while J. E. Freeman is formidable as his sinister and violent right-hand-man.

Some of the more sensitive viewers might not like Miller’s Crossing because of the large amounts of violence, which is rather graphic for Hollywood standards. On the other hand, much bigger flaw could be found in Coens’ occasional slip up when they allow their film to look too “cool” and stylish for their own good. One example can be found in assassination attempt scene which, accompanied by Frank Patterson’s rendition of “Danny Boy” looks artificial and more film-like than it should be. Despite that, Miller’s Crossing is a very good film that aged like wine and that could provide many viewers with excellent entertainment even on repeated viewings.

RATING: 8/10 (+++)

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