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A lot more amusing than I thought it would be.

A different way of telling a story

A brilliant film that helped define a genre

If the ambition is to provide two hours of instantly forgettable, popcorn-munching escapism, it succeeds.

Imagine if the coen brothers were from the silent epoch; I'm glad we don't have to.

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.

I knew this was a gangster movie, but I didn't know, or just forgot, that it was directed by brothers Joel and Ethan Coen (Fargo, No Country for Old Men, True Grit), so it would be interesting to see how they do with this specific genre. Basically set in Prohibition era 1930s, Tom Reagan (Gabriel Byrne) is the adviser and right hand man for Irish mobster and political boss Leo O'Bannon (Albert Finney). Italian racketeer and Leo's partner Johnny Caspar (Jon Polito) announces his intent to kill bookie Bernie Bernbaum (Quiz Show's John Turturro), against Tom's advice he extends his protection to Bernie, Verna Bernbaum (Pollock's Marcia Gay Harden) is Bernie's brother, she is in a relationship with Leo, but continues an affair with Tom. To end the war, Tom tries to convince Leo to give up Bernie to Caspar, he attempts to convince him he is being played by Verna to protect her brother, but Leo is not swayed, and after an assassination attempt on Leo, Tom reveals his affair with Verna to prove her dishonesty, Leo only beats her and turns his back on them both. Tom approaches Caspar for work, to prove his loyalty Caspar commands him to kill Bernie at Miller's Crossing, Bernie is taken into the woods, he begs Tom to spare him, saying "Look into your heart", Tom fires the gun to fake the murder, he tells Bernie to run and hide. Caspar assumes Leo's position as boss of the city, controlling the police and using them to destroy Leo's operations, meanwhile Tom begins settling disagreements between Caspar and his trusted but brutal and homosexual enforcer Eddie "the Dane" Dane (J.E. Freeman). Dane confirms that Tom's men did not see him murder Bernie, he is taken to Miller's Crossing to find Bernie's body, Tom nearly cracks as they near the location, but they find a body that has been shot in the face and birds have disfigured him. Tom finds out that Bernie returned, killed Dane's lover Mink (Steve Buscemi), also his lover, and placed his body in the woods, Bernie tries to blackmail Tom into killing Caspar. Eddie Dane denies betraying Caspar, after Tom uses Mink's unknown whereabouts to convince Caspar, he needs to decide who to trust and who to kill, in rage Caspar beats Dane before shooting him in the head, Tom then arranges a meeting between Caspar and Bernie, Caspar is under the pretext that he will be meeting Mink. Bernie gets the jump on Caspar and kills him, Tom arrives after this and tricks Bernie into handing over his gun, after a discussion of who will be blamed and the retribution for blackmailing Bernie again blames Tom to spare his life, saying "Look into your heart", Tom replies "What heart?" and shoots him. With Caspar and Eddie Dane dead, Leo resumes his position as top boss, Verna has her way back Leo's trust, but reacts coldly towards Tom, on the day Bernie is buried Leo announces he and Verna are engaged, he also offers Tom his job back, Tom refuses and stands back watching Leo depart, the future is questionable. Also starring Mike Starr as Frankie, Al Mancini as Tic-Tac, Richard Woods as Mayor Dale Levander, Thomas Toner as O'Doole, Home Alone 3's Olek Krupa as Tad, Michael Jeter as Adolph, Sam Raimi as Snickering Gunman and Frances McDormand as Mayor's Secretary. Byrne is brilliant as the cool, calculating man behind the throne of the boss, Finney is impressive, Harden gives a great Bette Davis style performance as the woman two men are in love with, and supporting actors like Polito and Turturro give terrific performances as well. I will be completely honest and say that I had to really concentrate to understand everything going on, but even if I didn't it had plenty of moments to remember, including the gory assassination attempt with guns blazing, there are some perfectly over-the-top violent sequences, it is a well written, well acted and has all the right ingredients to keep you fixed, a satisfactory neo-noir black comedy crime drama. Very good!

This is a very well written Coen brothers's gangster film. It has sharp dialogues and has depth and soul to it without going into the mindless Tommy Gun shootouts. The main lead is a character named Tom Reagan who starts out as the right hand man for his boss Leo. Now Leo O'Bannon is one of the coolest mob boss in film history. Sure he gets his hands dirty but he treats the people that work for him right and he does have a heart. Well at least a heart when it comes to gangster bosses anyways. Anyways Tom is a smart, cunning skimmer that is a bit over his head. But also has this charisma and pretentious loyalty which leads him to be liked highly by whoever hires him. He is also has this bad boy persona that women find irresistible and keeps his cool for the most part. He is also very good at manipulation. He is a gambler that takes huge risks with his life and act cool continuously like he doesn't give a crap (which is another reason why some women find him irresistible). In another words he is a good bluffer, which is few of the reasons why you would want him to be on your team while also not wanting him on your team. The reason why I go about Tom's personality is because his personality plays a pivotal role in the plot. And when he sleeps with his boss's twist which leads things to intertwine and sets off in a very different path than what could of been. That acting for the most part is done quite well in this, but that also has to do with the well written dialogue and direction. The ending is pretty gritty, bleak and stays far away from the warm heartfelt wrap up. "Nobody knows anybody, not that well".9/10