Miller's Crossing (1990)

Don't listen to the negative reviews

disgusting, overrated, pointless

Best movie of this year hands down!

if their story seems completely bonkers, almost like a feverish work of fiction, you ain't heard nothing yet.

For some reason I had put off watching this film for 25 years. Just watched it and it's great! Some briliant characters involved in a great plot. Don't make my mistakes and watch straight away.

Its artificial setting, tongue-in-cheek villains make this a a triumph of gangster film caricature and self-conscious with it. Love is blind, and the seeming transfer of racketeering power in its bosses and underlings shifts as a result within a labyrinthine plot. The set design is beautiful, the lighting is brilliant, and the music pervades so memorably and powerfully. The downside is that the plot is a bit mechanical and characters are not engaging on an emotional level, though it has to be said this is a film to be marvelled for its artifice.

Gabriel Byrne plays Irish gangster Tom Reagan, right hand man to crime boss Leo (Albert Finney). When trouble stirs between Jewish and Italian mobsters, Reagan uses his position of trust to manipulate those around him.I love gangster movies and Miller's Crossing, by the Coen Brothers, delivers much of what I find so entrancing about the genre: strong characters, wonderful period detail, explosive violence and a cool film noir/neo noir style. But for some reason—and I haven't quite put my finger on it yet—the film didn't grip me as much as I had expected, certainly not in the way that The Godfather or Once Upon A TIme in America did.It might be that I didn't quite swallow how effortlessly Reagan exploited every situation when, in reality, he would have been rumbled and 'taken care of'. It could be that the performances were a little too cartoonish for my liking, the gangsters almost a parody of those seen in other films. Or it could be that, underneath all of the great cinematography and stylish touches, there really isn't that much of a story to be told.6 out of 10. Worth seeing for Albert Finney toting a tommy gun and for Sam Raimi being riddled with machine gun fire.

I would echo the review of Pclark in nearly all aspects. I want to add something that I am going to flag as a "spoiler" even though it isn't about the plot or the movie, per se: It is about technique. Miller's Crossing does an absolutely brilliant job of taking things to an exaggerated level (dialog, plot, characters, everything), but never crossing the line where you would not take it seriously while watching it. The Coen Brothers just weave magic around the hyperbole line: They run right up against it, but never quite cross it. Miller's Crossing is truly a singular film: You will find nothing else like it anywhere.