Miller's Crossing [1990] (REGION 1) (NTSC)

Amazon.co.uk Review

Arguably the best film by Joel and Ethan Coen, the 1990 Miller's Crossing stars Gabriel Byrne as Tom, a loyal lieutenant of a crime boss named Leo (Albert Finney) who is in a Prohibition-era turf war with his major rival, Johnny Caspar (Jon Polito). A man of principle, Tom nevertheless is romantically involved with Leo's lover (Marcia Gay Harden), whose screwy brother (John Turturro) escapes a hit ordered by Caspar only to become Tom's problem. Making matters worse, Tom has outstanding gambling debts he can't pay, which keeps him in regular touch with a punishing enforcer. With all the energy the Coens put into their films, and all their focused appreciation of genre conventions and rules, and all their efforts to turn their movies into ironic appreciations of archetypes in American fiction, they never got their formula so right as with Miller's Crossing. With its Hammett-like dialogue and Byzantine plot and moral chaos mitigated by one hero's personal code, the film so transcends its self-scrutiny as a retro-crime thriller that it is a deserved classic in its own right. --Tom Keogh

Customer Reviews:

Verbose, darkly comic and visually energetic deconstruction of the gangster genre........2008-02-29

As Blood Simple and Raising Arizona had previously done with the respective genre of film-noir and the screwball comedy, Miller's Crossing attempts to do with the American gangster film. Here, the Coen's aren't simply attempting to pastiche the style of Hollywood mob films of the 30's and 40's, but rather, create a customized deconstruction of every single narrative contrivance or characteristic prevalent in those films. Naturally, in keeping with the film's they'd made before (and those that they would go on to create throughout the subsequent decade) the various signs, themes and signifiers have been dusted off, stripped away and re-adapted with an equal amount of warm nostalgia and distancing post-modern irony, and then, finally, restructured with those trademark characters and idiosyncrasies that only the Coen brothers can really create.

The style of the film is trapped somewhere between the straight (though perhaps stylised in order to meet the requirement of the genre) reality of Blood Simple, with the over-the-top characters and set-pieces of Raising Arizona. On top of this, we also have the gorgeous noir-like cinematography of Barry Sonnenfeld, which draws on genre films of the 30's as well as more recent gangster pictures like The Godfather and Once Upon A Time in America (to quote the two most-obvious reference points). It also seems to predate the slick, "handsome" style of a film like Road To Perdition, with both films sharing that same colour-scheme of muted browns and autumnal reds, as well as the use of dramatic lighting, which here seems a little more "expressionistic" than most other mob/noir films of the last few decades. As well as the gorgeous style of both the cinematography and production design, there's also Carter Burwell's fantastic and evocative theme music (which was used in a long running Caffrey's commercial towards the end of the last decade; see also, The Hudsucker Proxy) and the standout performances from the excellent, ensemble cast.

Like much of the Coen's earlier works, the story, and indeed, the characters, are both wildly over-the-top and the actors seem to be having a great time imitating the Hollywood genre stalwarts of the 30's and 40's. Gabriel Byrne as the laconic Tom is the protagonist, the "man behind the man", who watches over his careless boss Leo, perfectly rendered by a stoic Albert Finney. There's also fine support from seasoned character actors and Coen regulars like J.E Freeman, Jon Polito, Steve Buscemi and a career best John Turturro, all of which adds further layers of narrative tension, drama and strokes of broad, darkly comic humour to an already fantastic film.

Is This The Best Film Of The Last 20 Years?.......2008-02-29

There are plenty of contenders for sure, but Miller's Crossing is the only movie I can think of which is brilliant from start to finish. It's the Coens' best work by an absolute mile, closely followed by the under-rated Barton Fink. Boasting an incredibly smart script, beautiful cinematography, near perfect direction, great set pieces and a gorgeous score by Carter Burwell, it's both deeply serious and highly entertaining at the same time. Also, courtesy of John Turturro, we're treated to one of the most detailed and perfect supporting performances ever put on film. I love it.

It's not Fargo, but worth watching.......2008-02-26

Though it is highly unlikely that the Coen brothers will ever make a bad movie, this is a three star effort, to Fargo's five.

Miller's crossing has the odd twist, but is on the whole predictable. However, in the movie's favour is some exellent acting (Albert Finney, Jon Polito, John Tuturro, J E Freeman)some marvellous dialogue (Tuturro's Bernie begging for his life, Polito's Caspar in all of his scenes) and beautiful beautiful shots (the scenes out at the woods of Miller's Crossing for example). The film contains one of the best gangster film scenes ever - when Albert Finney's character (Leo) has his house broken into by a rival boss's henchman. The scene, all machine guns and broken furniture, is set to a rather wonderful version of 'Danny Boy'.

The only slightly suspect acting comes from Gabriel Byrne. He might be imitating the films of the era in his acting style, but somehow it doesn't quite come off.

This is a good film and is worth watching (it even features an uncredited Frances McDormand) but Fargo it ain't.

Now take your flunky and dangle.......2008-02-24

Miller's Crossing finds the Coens at their cool best, executing a loving and highly stylised pastiche of classic `30s gangster movies while shamelessly lifting plot from "Red Harvest".
This movie proved that the Coens could take any genre and make it their own.
Oh Danny Boy... Albert Finney in a classic scene of orchestrated slapstick with "Danny Boy" playing in the background. The gunplay is for Leo like great sex. At the end of the rumpus Leo produces his extinguished cigar from his nightrobe and plants it in his mouth with pure satisfaction.
One of the best movies of 1990? Entertaining stuff. Hardly a classic.

Best Coen Brothers film to date..?.......2008-02-13

Well i certainly think so and ive seen most of them. It looks so lush, the cinematography is exceptional, the acting is brilliant and the pace of the film moves along quite wonderfully. Am i going over-the-top? No, i dont think so. The violence in the film is very stylish, quick and at times shocking. But with most Coen Brothers film the humour is black as night and you cannot help being amused by most of what goes on. All in all, brilliant, one of the best films ive ever seen.

Miller's Crossing [1990] (REGION 1) (NTSC)

Average customer rating:

Miller's Crossing [1990] (REGION 1) (NTSC)
Gabriel Byrne
Manufacturer: Fox Home Entertainment
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

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ASIN: 6307763345
Release Date: 2007-02-06

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