Review of Miller's Crossing (1990) by Shane K — 28 Nov 2009

You may notice I've rated Miller's Crossing 100%. There's a simple reason for that. I love this movie. As far as I'm concerned there isn't a single weak scene or moment. I can watch the entire hour & fifty minutes that make up this film without checking my watch or wondering how many minutes before it's over. Pick any cast member at random & you can describe it as their finest hour & if it weren't for a certain loveable burnout named Jeff Lebowski it would be the Coen's definitive masterwork.

Why do I love it so? Well it strikes the perfect balance between comedy & drama. The story is multilayered but never descends into needlessly complicated convolution. In the simplest terms it revolves around sports betting & a power struggle between Irish & Italian crime bosses. The anti hero of the piece is Tom Reagan, played by a never better Gabriel Byrne, a gang lieutenant that has to navigate the increasingly complicated dealings of rival crime syndicates. The other standouts in terms of acting are regular Coen collaborators, Jon Polito & John Turturro as unhinged Mafia don Johnny Casper & inherently sleazy bookmaker Bernie Bernbaum respectively. The cast (which also includes Albert Finney, Marcia Gay Harden & a small role for Steve Buscemi) is quality as a whole.

The dialogue is deserving of special praise, the characters interact in a quickfire patois that brings to mind the cinema of the 1940's. The characters never swear in the modern sense, the worst you'll hear is son of a bitch, instead exchanges have a unique noirish quality full of quips & putdowns. The quirkiness that often puts me off Coen's films when laid on too thick is present here but a perfect balance is struck.

Speaking of 40's noir throwbacks, the look of the film also brings to mind noir cinema. At times during interiors it's like watching an interior scene from the Naked City that's simply been shot in colour. As for exteriors the shots (especially those from the forrest) are just beautiful. There's a transition during the forrest scenes that's just a marvel to behold. Bary Sonnenfield's (who went onto the direct (*shrug*) Men In Black) cinematography is more than a match for Roger Deakins.

People talk about how at the 63rd Academy Awards Goodfellas was robbed by Dances With Wolves for best picture/director. Miller's Crossing was nominated for nothing that year. Nadda. Zip. S.F.A. In a year when an abortion like Ghost take's Best Original Screenplay. (That's Right, Ghost). The Coen's should by all rights have gotten their first oscar 17 years before No Country For Old Men. When you think about that, the Goodfellas debacle doesn't seem half as bad.

Well I might be biased, as I said I LOVE MILLER'S CROSSING.