Review of Miller's Crossing (1990) by Kurt F — 14 Sep 2011

The Coen Brothers; Joel and Ethan are the finest pair of filmmakers in Hollywood. Nobody, and I mean nobody who writes and directs all of their own films has this kind of track record. All but 4 of their films are original screenplays, not an easy feat. I'm deeply in love with just about every one of their movies I've seen. From Raising Arizona, to Fargo, to O Brother Where Art Thou?, all way the up to last year's True Grit. They're amazing. I've seen all but 4 of their films and the one that stands out as the most unique in style, tone and structure to me is Miller's Crossing in 1990. Just about all of the Coen's films have their roots in film noir in some form or another. Some have the look down pat (The Man Who Wasn't There). Some take the genre and spin it into pure comedy (The Big Lebowski). But in 1990, with their third film, they decided to go all out and just make a film noir gangster movie set in the film noir world. Pre-War 1930s on the East Coast in a nameless city. There's the Irish gangsters and the Italians. When a war breaks out one man stands in the middle and plays both sides. This is very much from the Dashiel Hammet novel The Glass Key.

The movie is sensational. You would never know that these 2 guys just made the wacky (and genius) comedy Raising Arizona just a film ago. Miller's Crossing is one of the Coens' more adult films. That is to say they make movies that everyone can like (Fargo, Raising Arizona or O Brother Where Art Thou?) and then they make movies that mostly people over 21 will like (The Big Lebowski or Barton Fink). Miller's Crossing is not for everyone, the dialogue is very stylized. It reminds me a lot of the way Deadwood was written, going to style rather than realism. The violence is brutal, very brutal. No cartoonish, but very gruesome. Think Godfather with more violence. But hey, if you like film noir and are in for a mature story with perfect acting and cinematic technique like I am then you'll love this. If you want an action movie with minimal dialogue then please watch something else.

Miller's Crossing came out in 1990 in between Goodfellas and The Godfather Part III. The Departed could have come out in that shuffle and would have gotten lost. But watching it as part of a series is the filmography of America's greatest sibling directors it stands alone as their crime epic masterpiece. Catch it on Blu Ray and revel in the beauty of one of the finest pieces of screen violence. Albert Finney takes on some guys breaking into his house with a Tommy Gun to the tune of Danny Boy and it almost makes me tear up. What does make me tear up is a scene in the woods where John Turturro begs for his life, I've never seen an actor lose his @#$% so realistically.

So watch the movie, know it's a talky piece, but the 'action' will satisfy. It's not for everyone, but everyone should watch it once.