It's A question of ethics: Miller's Crossing Review (1990)

After their first viewing, some films will leave the viewer in immediate awe or anger, either of a performance, a stunt, a scene, or the film itself. Others, like the Coen Brother’s third film, 1990’s Miller’s Crossing have much more of a slow burn effect: although you know it was good, it takes time for you to realize just how good it really was.

Miller’s Crossing details the the trials and tribulations of law and the mob in a Depression era town. The film’s main character, Tom Reagan (Gabriel Byrne), is the consigliere to the local mob boss, Leo O’Bannon (Albert Finney). The two have a successful if not uneventful relationship, with Leo being the town’s most powerful gangster. Things turn sour though, when rival mobster Johnny Caspar (Jon Polito) wants to knock off an unreliable bookie (John Turturro) and Leo refuses. Tom protests this decision, the two part ways, and things get interesting. That the bookie also happens to be the brother to Leo’s girlfriend and Tom’s mistress Vera (Marcia Gay Harden) makes the situation no less complicated. 

Part of this film’s subtle appeal is in the Coen’s ability to do such a fantastic job in every area that few, if any, weaknesses show. Technically, the film is beautifully shot and well scored. The attention to detail is impeccable, and the feel is exactly that of the dirty, morally corrupt city that the Coen’s wish to portray; the setting evokes nostalgia without resorting to novelty, or more importantly, dominating the story. The script is well paced, consistently tense and always capturing the audience’s attention, but it is never exhausting as such films can be. Its excellence becomes all the more clear when compared against similar films such as Michael Mann’s Public Enemies or Brian de Palma’s The Untouchables: while they are unrealistic and rely on big name stars to carry themselves, Miller’s Crossing is much more well rounded and satisfying.

Maximum Brooding, Maximum Fedora: Gabriel Byrne as Tom Reagan

This consistent level of excellence extends to nearly all or the performances of the cast. All of the characters have multiple layers of depth and motivations that are not so simplistic as to be boring and yet not so complex as to be inscrutable, and all offer their individual delights. Finney’s O’Bannon is a tough as nails throwback to Irish gangster bosses of yore, yet still posses a broad enough range of emotions to be plausible. Moviegoers will likely recognize him from his role in Erin Brokovich, but here he is a cigar-chomping machine gun artist and not a mild mannered lawyer. Polito’s Caspar is a criminal with a near tragic sense of honor and brings life to every scene he is in; I was shocked to later find that this is his biggest role. The lone female in the film, Harden does well to draw from the femme fatale so often found in film noir, and also displays great chemistry in her scenes with Byrne. Turturro is as serpentine and slimy as anyone familiar with his work has come to expect; as always, he is a treat. In this sense, the film is driven by its strength: the struggles with the concepts of loyalty, honor, and selfishness that each of its characters go through.

Leo O'Bannon (Albert Finney) and some cronies

If there is a standout performance, though, it is Byrne’s Reagan (You likely know Byrne from The Usual Suspects). It’s hard not to draw parallels to one of the Coen’s most famous characters, Anton Chigurgh, as Reagan is a similarly inscrutable anti-hero. But upon closer inspection Reagan is so much more - a man with a clear sense of morals and righteousness at one moment, and pure self interest the next. Just when you think you have him figured out, he changes tacks. Reagan resembles the hard boiled detective found in so much other noir, and yet his lines always come across as genuine, never cliché; think of Jake Gittes without the hat and nosejob.

The Coen brothers have made some fantastic films, and this is one of them; any fan of their work will be deeply satisfied, as will lovers of noir and gangster films. Much like with True Grit this film’s success lies in its ability to fulfill the promises of its genre, without getting bogged down in its their stereotypes or feeling limited by the shortcomings that affect many of its peers.

While it may not be as epic as No Country for Old Men, nor as hysterical as The Big Lebowski, Miller’s Crossing is nonetheless an accessible, deeply satisfying film worthy of any one’s time.

Miller's Crossing (1990)

Directed by Joel Coen and Ethan Coen (uncredited)

Written by Joel & Ethan Coen

Starring Gabriel Byrne, Marcia Gay Harden, Albert Finney, John Turturro, Jon Polito, and J.E. Freeman

Cinematography by Barry Sonenfeld and Music by Carter Burwell

115 minuets