Review of Miller's Crossing (1990) by Jaye P — 03 Sep 2012
"When I've raised hell you'll know it." My favorite Coen Brothers film. My favorite gangster film. And my fourth favorite film of all time. Miller's Crossing is a crushingly somber story of a man who doesn't want to chase his hat, but does so anyway.
Gabriel Byrne is a cold, calculating mob enforcer struggling to navigate the violent mob war between the Tommy Gun artistry of Albert Finney and the ethically obsessed Jon Polito. And it's not just simply endlessly quotable like every other Coen Brothers flick, it's deliciously pornographically obsessed with hard heavy jazzy gangland language and the result is an aural landscape similar to the purple prose of HBO's Deadwood.
Watch out for the high hat, listen for the rumpus, and beware the gory hate of J.E. Freeman's The Dane. It should also be noted that this is the last collaboration with cinematographer Barry Sonnenfeld; he may not be as painterly as future collaborator Roger Deakins, but man, he perfectly captures the Rashomon forest and those handsome men in hats.
Not VF.
This review of Miller's Crossing (1990) was written by Jaye P on 03 Sep 2012.
Miller's Crossing has generally received very positive reviews.
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