Review of Miller's Crossing (1990) by Jesse O — 17 Feb 2013

I don't think this would rate among the best of the Coen brothers I've seen but this is still a pretty great film. The Coens have always found a way to take what influenced them and manage to add a new little twist or nook to it that gives it that flavor that the Coens are known for.

Whether it is the idiosyncratic characters, their darkly comic dialogue, or their stylish cinematography. This film is obviously, in part as noir films also had a great influence on this film, influenced by Yojimbo at least as far as the story goes.

You have Tom Reagan playing the Irish mob and the Italian mob against each other like Toshiro Mifune does in that film. But, again, the noir genre also had a big part to play in how the film was written.

Unlike their next film, Barton Fink, which was covered in so much subtext that multiple viewings of that film are a must if you want to catch all the little details, this one is much more straightforward, though that's not to say the film won't reveal more information in multiple viewings.

It still has that trademark Coen brothers humor as well as some topnotch writing, simply topnotch dialogue here. The story, on the other hand, while solid and having some interesting twists and turns, simply isn't wonderful.

It's great seeing Tom manipulate both sides against each other, I just think they tried too hard to incorporate many different characters into the 'main story' so to speak. This is something they improved GREATLY upon in Barton Fink.

That film had fewer characters and it was still a very complex story with a lot information to digest. I just think they spend too much time trying to get some many characters in the film that Tom's character, other than playing both sides against each other, isn't really that memorable.

Especially compared to Barton Fink. I realize it's unfair to compare the two films as they're clearly very different, but the story can be a bit of a mess sometimes. That's not to say the film isn't great because I still really liked the film and I would definitely recommend it.

It's just that in the Coens' filmography, this isn't close to one of their best. Still an excellent film though. Funny, clever, stylish...everything you can expect from the Coens.