Miller's Crossing | Gabriel Byrne, Albert Finney | Wonderfully ambivalent in every respect

Miller's Crossing | Gabriel Byrne, Albert Finney | "An Interesting Ethical Question"

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Miller's Crossing

	Miller's Crossing Gabriel Byrne, Albert Finney 20th Century Fox, 2003 average customer review:based on 230 reviews view larger image
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highly recommended

Wonderfully ambivalent in every respect

Tom Reagan either sees the whole board like nobody else can, or he is an idiot of the first order. Either seems equally possible to me, as he engages in every double-cross known to man, for reasons which are never made entirely clear. Along the way, he is beaten up seemingly by nearly every inhabitant of the unnamed city's criminal underworld, but seems to accept his lot with resignation.

This movie had so many twists and turns that it required two consecutive viewings to insure that I had it right. One could watch it a million times and still never know exactly what Tom Reagan's motives are. The Coens certainly have no problem leaving the ultimate outcome somewhat unresolved, which always entertains me. Neat, tidy endings are rarely a reflection of real life.

One will find great performances throughout, particularly those of Albert Finney & Gabriel Byrne. The typically twisted Coen humor is on abundant display in the snappy dialogue, sometimes so snappy that the viewer can hardly follow along (Steve Buscemi speaks at such a blistering pace that I had put on the subtitles to make sense of it all).

As other reviewers have said, you either love the Coens or hate them. The surreal, ambivalent qualities which delight some will drives other crazy. I have found both to be true...by the time "Barton Fink" was over, I had no idea what I was even watching anymore, and wondered what the ballyhoo was all about. However, "Miller's Crossing" is a good example of all the best Coenesque qualities falling nicely into place, resulting in a movie which is hugely entertaining without being nearly as frustrating as some others.

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"An Interesting Ethical Question"

Since there are already 203 reviews of "Miller's Crossing here," I'll skip the plot summaries, raves about performances, references to Dashiell Hammett, etc., knowing the odds of my repeating at least one review on file are better than they are that one of Tom's bets will finally come in.

I'll save you some time: If you want a traditional shoot 'em up crime pic, all action and no brains,
keep walking. This ain't your picture.

I mean, this is a great gangster movie, make no mistake about it. It's got all the necessary ingredients: lots of violence (explosions, machine guns, arson), exuberantly shot; multiple, incestuous betrayals (professional, romantic, sexual); even a little love . . . . But none to spare. Nobody will ever accuse this movie of sentimentality.

Miller's Crossing is definitely more aimed at the head than the heart. That said, the film has some real emotional depth, with bonds of all sorts--professional, familial, romantic--straining, twisting, crossing, breaking, doublecrossing. There's a lot more feeling here than is obvious at first glance.

But the Coens are, as is their wont, riffing on a genre. They write characters like Johnny Casper (Jon Polito), a choleric little fireplug who muses about the nature of right and wrong ("an interesting ethical question . . . ") as he's sending his lieutenants out to murder his enemies or, when things get out of hand, doing the job himself.

Also, Joel and Ethan are so in love with the gorgeous lingo of the hard-boiled period gangster pic that they make it a featured player. If you share their love of language in general, and American slang in particular, Miller's Crossing will thrill you with its virtuosic wordplay.

Here's a question: How many times does world-weary Tom (Gabriel Byrne), the still water at the center of Miller's Crossing, get beat up? And how many times does he lose his hat?

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A Hat Blowing in the Wind

Miller's Crossing is the Coen Brother's foray into the gangster genre. Most people either love the Coen Brother's movies or hate them. I fall somewhere in between, however, their movies are always interesting and Miller's Crossing is no exception.

The film takes place in a prohibition era, large, American city. The protagonist, Tom Reagen, played by Gabriel Byrne, is the trusted right-hand man of Leo O'Bannon (Albert Finney), the leader of the dominant Irish gang. Leo is under pressure from the up and coming Italian gang led by Johnny Caspar (Jon Polito). A conflict between the two leaders emerges over the small time hood, Bernie Bernbaum (John Turturro). Apparently Bernie is leaking word of Caspar's fixed races to too many people. Caspar is seeing the odds of his sure bets drop too much. It's cutting heavily into his cash flow. And besides, it's just not ehtical. Leo, partly because Bernie is his girlfriend Verna's (Marsha Gay Hardin) kid brother, is protecting Leo and refuses to let Caspar move against him. The police and mayor take orders from whoever the top dog is, and the funniest moments of the movie are watching them shift around in trying to end up on the right side of the ensuing war. Tom has to act on his own to bring his boss Leo and Verna, with whom he's having an affair, safely through the war.

It's a complicated plot, but the plot isn't the strongest aspect of the film. What I found most remarkable about the film was it's attention to detail. As a period peice, Miller's Crossing is phenomenal. The costumes, the settings, the cars all perfectly fit 1920's urban America. And the dialouge, what a wealth of character 1920's, American slang brings to the movie. The acting by the whole cast was particularly well done. And the cinematography captured it all perfectly. Especially the lonely road through the woods at what was called Miller's Crossing. This movie is truly a feast for the eyes, and the dialouge and soundtack make it a feast for the ears as well. The plot is a little too complex and Tom Reagen rolls from beating to beating like an indestructable Superman, but as a period piece, this movie excels.

Add in a little trademark Coen dark humor and a little Coen fixation with hats, and this movie is well worth a couple of hours of a quiet evening at home.

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