Review of Miller's Crossing (1990) by Filipeneto — 14 Nov 2018

I've seen several Cohen brothers films and I know they have a habit of making complex films, more or less between the commercial movie and the intellectual movie. The Cohen have the ability to go from one end to the other of this spectrum. The script runs during the Prohibition and in the context of an impending gangster war. Tom, the main character, is trying to avoid it, but ends up getting entangled in a web of crossed loyalties.

Gabriel Byrne gave life to the lead role and was excellent. I loved his performance in a character who looks like an anti-hero. He has everything to be bad (he has no character or scruple and doesn't mind betraying friends) but he is pragmatic and seems to regard the bloodshed as something that should be avoided or minimized. That makes Tom a character we like. He is not a good guy, but he seems to be the most human person in the whole movie. Velma, on the other hand, looks like a cold, calculating, treacherous girl. The way Marcia Gay Harden acted also helped. The actress is good and performed well. John Turturro also shone in the role of Bernie, an opportunist little crook who gets in trouble by fooling a big fish. Albert Finney brought to life Leo, the powerful Irish boss with a good heart and full of kindness. He is a good actor, but his character seems too good to be a mobster. Much closer to the ruthless and cynical picture which we use to make of mob bosses is Jon Polito. He's the most dominant actor in the film, along with Byrne. I loved his work here. His cruelty, the easy way he kills or orders to kill gave me goose bumps. The rest of the cast also did a good job, but I think these actors deserve prominence, not so much for having the main characters but for the quality of their work.

Another good thing are the technical details. Cinematography is very good and contributes decisively to the chilling environment that we like to feel in a true gangster movie. Some scenes are clearly homage to other films of the past, as well as the relevance given to fedora hats. In fact, if there is anything that we immediately link with the gangster world it's this particular type of hat (although it's also one of the most classic male hat models, still fashionable nowadays... I even have one). We can also see other iconic elements of the mob world, like Thompson sub-machine guns. It has excellent firefight scenes also, and the dry and ironic humor that is the Cohen Brothers trademark. The only thing I didn't like was the soundtrack because I felt it cut through the pleasant tension I felt throughout the movie.

"Miller's Crossing" is a good movie. It's not too complex or unintelligible, tells a good story, has a nice irony, a good cast doing a great job, good production values and positive technical details. It's worth watching.