#749. Miller's Crossing (1990)

Directed By: Joel and Ethan Coen

Starring: Gabriel Byrne, Albert Finney, John Turturro




Tag line: "Up is down, black is white, and nothing is what it seems"

Trivia: The character of Leo was written for Trey Wilson, who played Nathan Arizona, Sr, in the Coens' previous film, Raising Arizona. Wilson died shortly before production began, so Albert Finney took over the role

Prohibition is in full-swing, and Irish mobster Leo (Albert Finney) controls the entire city, with his right-hand man Tom Reagan (Gabriel Byrne) advising him every step of the way. 

When Italian underboss Johnny Caspar (Jon Polito) asks for permission to knock off bookie Bernie Bernbaum (John Turturro), who divulged private information about Caspar’s betting habits, Leo refuses, mostly because he’s in love with Bernie’s sister, Verna (Marcia Gay Harden), and doesn’t want to do anything to jeopardize their relationship. 

In anger, Caspar decides to try and rub out Leo, kicking off a gangland war. And when Leo discovers that Tom has also been sleeping with Verna, it causes a rift between the two old friends that may spell the end of their criminal empire.

Start to finish, Miller’s Crossing belongs to Gabriel Byrne, whose Tom Reagan is the sole voice of reason, adrift in a sea of rash decisions and hasty, hot-headed actions. Though Tom himself is involved with Verna, he advises Leo to let Caspar “settle the score” with Bernie, because doing so would, at the very least, maintain the status quo. 

Hand-in-hand with his rational approach, Tom can also be blunt, sometimes downright rude. When Verna asks him if he put in a good word for her brother with Leo, Tom curtly answers “no”. “Well what did you tell him?” Verna asks, to which Tom replies, calmly and quite sincere, “That you were a tramp”. Tom is as tough as they come, and can even speak his mind to the big boss, Leo, probably the only man who can. As Tom is reiterating the advice he gave Leo early on (make peace with Caspar and stop protecting Bernie), he points out that Caspar has grown stronger over the years, and may have the pull to muscle Leo out of the top job. “I figure I can still trade body blows with anyone in this town”, Leo confidently replies, adding, after a slight pause, “except you, Tom”. 

Thanks to Byrne’s calm, calculated performance, Tom Reagan comes across as one of the cinema's most compelling gangsters, a man who pulls no punches, makes no idle threats, and is always a step ahead of everybody else.

As for the film itself, the Coens fill Miller's Crossing with an overwhelming lyricism that permeates throughout, a bit of poetry to give this cruel world of guns and money an almost ethereal feel. Even when the violence turns ugly, the film maintains its artistic flair, with jazz and Celtic music, soft and melancholy, underscoring many a scene. Then there’s the beautiful recurring image of Tom’s hat blowing in the breeze, a dream sequence that, when interpreted, might suggest Tom is fearful of losing his self-control, something he simply can’t afford to do ("Nothing more foolish than a man chasing his hat", he says to Verna). 

All this, combined with a solid supporting cast and the stunning cinematography of Barry Sonnefeld, does its part to make Miller’s Crossing one of the most creative entries ever to grace the gangster genre.