Miller's Crossing

                                                                         Miller's Crossing
                                                                Directed by the Coen brothers
                                                                 Written by the Coen brothers

If anyone knows me they know that I am a huge fan of the Coen brothers. I've liked every single one of the films I've seen from them, some more than others. The brothers are known for their films having a very strange, quirky sense of humor usually with a dark edge to it. While Miller's Crossing isn't a comedy it has many of the identifiers that other Coen films have and is undoubtedly one of their finest, if one of their most underappreciated, works.

The film is a neo noir prohibition-era gangland period piece and is the Coen's trademark variety of drama; that is, a drama with very dark and quirky elements. The film stars Irish actor Gabriel Byrne, Marcia Gay Harden, Albert Finney, J.E. Freeman and Coen brothers alumni Jon Polito, John Turturro and Steve Buscemi; all three of whom made their first appearance in the brother's films with this movie.

The film follows Tom Reagan (Gabriel Byrne), the right hand of gang boss Leo (Albert Finney), as he tries desperately to keep the peace between his boss and rival gangster Johnny Caspar (Jon Polito). The tensions between the two gangs are high even at the best of times but are being intensified by Bernie Bernbaum (John Turturro), a low level accountant who uses insider knowledge to win big on fixed fights, who is scamming Caspar out of money and Caspar wants to start gunning for him but Leo refuses his request because his girlfriend Verna (Marcia Gay Harden) is Bernie's sister. To top it off Verna and Tom are also in a relationship. The entire film is a mess of loyalties and double crosses and it can be a bit much the first time through but is much easier to digest on a second viewing. To be clear that doesn't stop you from enjoying the film the first time through, far from it, but it gets even better the second time through as I discovered.

For most films much of it's strength comes from it's main character, obviously, but I feel that this is particularly the case for Coen brothers movies. Would No Country For Old Men have been as intense, powerful or at times frightening if Javier Bardem's Anton Chigurh wasn't up to snuff? Would O' Brother Where Art Thou? have been as loveable and entertaining if George Clooney had dropped the ball? In the same way that those two actors hold up those other excellent films so too does Gabriel Byrne hold up Miller's Crossing. He gives a somewhat subdued performance but it's the small things he does that really sell his character. He's witty and has a quick comeback to almost anything anybody says to him and it gives a lot of levity to the scene while also endearing him to the audience. An early example of this is when he wakes up after having passed out drunk on a friend's couch after a night of gambling.

TAD: "Wake up."

TOM: "I am awake."

TAD: "But your eyes are closed."

TOM: "Who are you gonna believe?"

He can also nail the more serious moments when he needs to. He plays a very withdrawn character, one who keeps everyone at arms length and doesn't let his friends much closer. He doesn't have any moments where he yells or screams to get across the idea that he's scared, he simply becomes very stiff and quiet and it seems as though you can see the color drain from his face. He also isn't some untouchable gangster badass, if anything he's more pathetic than the other characters, constantly getting beaten up by gangsters, loan sharks and even Bernie Bernbaum. He gets ahead by always being the smartest man in the room and seeing him talk his way in and out of tricky situations is fantastic. It's a phenomenal performance and I was consistently impressed with him.

Another standout I want to mention is J.E. Freeman as Eddie Dane, or "Eddie the Dane". If Tom is Leo's right hand then Eddie Dane is Caspar's. Unlike Tom, Eddie is a badass. He is always seen dressed in all black and doesn't say much throughout the runtime. Even if he's just sitting on a couch smoking a cigarette you can tell that he's a dangerous man and a scene he shares with Verna proves that. He is the main antagonist of the film and despite not having a lot of screen time he makes a large impact. A certain scene he has with Tom is easily one of my favorites in the entire movie.

By focusing on these two performances I don't intend to say that the rest of the cast isn't as good, the opposite is the case. There isn't a single bad performance in the entire movie, I found Jon Turturro's Bernie to be fantastic. he was cunning and manipulative and totally sold the scenes he was in. Marcia Gay Harden was also great as Verna in the scenes she had; honestly I wish we got more of her but what we do have is very good.

If I have a problem with this film it would have to be two particular scenes. The first is a scene that takes place in Leo's house where he fights off a handful of assassins. Whereas the rest of the movie is played fairly straight, for the Coen brothers anyway, this scene is pretty silly. Without going too far into it, while I did enjoy the scene and laugh when it wanted me to I do feel like it conflicts with the tone of the rest of the movie which is played a bit more straight. It's a good scene, don't get me wrong, but I would have changed it to make the film more tonally cohesive.

The same can be said of the second scene but to a lesser degree. This is a shorter scene where the police are raiding a speakeasy. This fits more with the tone of the film but the last few shots seem a bit more cartoonish than I personally would have wanted but I think you can make an argument that it's just how the Coen's direct action. By the way, yes that is director Sam Raimi as an actor in the scene.

After watching Miller's Crossing twice this week I find myself wondering why this hasn't had the same cult following that many of the Coen's other films has. The Big Lebowski was seen as a failure when it first came out but now is lauded as a cult classic, Inside Llewyn Davis wasn't received warmly at first but now it seems to have a decent fan base and even No Country For Old Men was divisive due to it's ending but now is almost universally heralded as the best of the Coen's filmography. However Miller's Crossing has the same great acting, the same gripping and funny writing and even the fantastic soundtrack that those other great films do (well, maybe not No Country with the soundtrack, that film doesn't have one) but seems to have been forgotten by the public at large. I hope that by writing this I can turn at least one or two people on to this hidden gem of a movie because I feel like it really does deserve a spot right next to the likes of Fargo, O' Brother and No Country.

Image Sources

https://cinema1544.wordpress.com/cinema-1544/millers-crossing/
http://www.audienceseverywhere.net/millers-crossing-retrospectives/
http://www.imfdb.org/wiki/File:Mc-webley2.jpg
https://www.pinterest.com/pin/56365432807773444/
https://ktismatics.wordpress.com/2009/07/18/millers-crossing-by-the-coens-1990/