Customer Reviews
Strong period piece 
2008-09-01
With a bit of tightening-up, this powerful period piece could be even stronger. I'm merely suggesting some editing out of a few unnecessary bits and shortening of some rather lengthy scenes.
That said, this film features a complicated plot, a superb cast, quite a bit of gangster/Prohibition era violence, beatings and shoot-outs, great music, and beautiful photography by Barry Sonnenfeld, who went on to become a director not long afterwards. The Coens did not fare well with this at the box office, as it places many demands on the audience, but it is worth seeing at home if you have the patience to pay attention to it and stick with it.
Gabriel Byrne is riveting as the troubled and put-upon main character, while the very emotional John Turturro proves that no one is better than he is at begging for his life.
And if you like hats, well, you will be in hat heaven!
Runnin things. It ain't all gravy. 2008-09-01
A highly stylized and satisfying version of the 1930's underworld. A chesslike plot melodramticaly propels characters. The scene where Leo defends an attack on his house with a Thompson sub machine gun is one of my favorite action scenes of all time.
Excellent! 
2008-08-12
Another Coen Brothers movie that surpasses all expectations. Gabriel Byrne, John Turturro, Albert Finney, Steve Buscemi, and Marcia Gay Harden perform exceptionally. It is a disturbing and suspenseful drama that flows along effortlessly and catches the viewer up in a way that he is gripping the seat he is sitting on. This movie brings you into the Coen Brothers' minds and shows you how much immeasurable creativity they have.
A definite choice for Coen Brothers' fans as well as for fans of suspense.
ALL WEEPY 2008-08-05
I thought I might go all weepy at the beauty of this film. Albert Finney,
as Leo is a glorious stand-out--somehow I knew he would have on spats-- and his "come out blazing" scene is glorious. John Turturro is right on as a sniveling weasel, but Gabriel Byrne as Tom is a dream. All the way through the movie, I was wondering, is Tom planning all this, or is he ad libing as the needs of self preservation present themselves. I did not really know until the last scene. What a beautifully done movie. If you did not "catch it" then, you should "catch it" now. You will not be disappointed.
Miller's Crossing - a Coen Classic 2008-07-11
Enchanting, haunting, unnerving and just good ole Coen Brothers' dialogue. Beautiful photography by Barry Sonnenfeld and great acting all around. This movie not surprisingly becomes more enjoyable with every viewing and is definitely worth owning!
One of the All-Time Great Gangster Films 2008-06-18
Filmmakers Joel and Ethan Coen (Barton Fink Fargo) create a complex and graphic vision of gangsterism set during Prohibition and featuring a riveting rouges' gallery of killers and con men.Leo (Albert Finney) a likeable Irish gangster boss rules an Eastern city along with Tom (Gabriel Byrne) his trusted lieutenant and counselor. But just as their authority is challenged by an Italian underboss (J.E. Freeman) Leo and Tom also fall for the same woman. Tom caught in the jaws of a gangland power struggle walks a deadly tightrope as he tries to control and manipulate its violent outcomes.System Requirements:Starring: Albert Finney Gabriel Byrne John Turturro Jon Polito Marcia Gay Harden J.E. Freeman. Directed By: Joel & Ethan Coen. Running Time: 115 Min. Color. Copyright 2003 Twentieth Century Fox.Format: DVD MOVIE Genre: DRAMA Rating: R UPC: 024543073833 Manufacturer No: 2007383
Kind of a bloody gangster film 
2008-05-07
In the 20's the Irish still ran things in some east coast cities.
It wasn't any cleaner or easier. Fights, gambling whores and booze were
big. Always one boss wants it all. There is always the girl that
you shouldn't mess with, but did. The hero here is a plainly an
anti-hero.
Most everybody ends up dead. The difference today is that
fully automatic weapons aren't as easy to get and drugs and martial arts
have changed how people got shot or beat up or are killed.
The minority groups have shifted, the language has changed, the music
is different, but the situations and the deaths remain.
Now there will be peace in this town...... 2008-04-21
"Miller's Crossing" is yet ANOTHER interpolation of Akira Kurosawa's "Yojimbo" (the other being "Last Man Standing", with Bruce Willis). The Coen brothers, however, did a fine job of "tweaking" the story to fit 1920's America. The sets, wardrobe, hardware and accoutrements come right out of the gangster period.
The Actors put forth first-rate performances, as well. Of special note are Albert Finney and John Turturro. Finney for the most memorable scene of standing in the middle of a residential street, emptying the drum of a Thompson Submachine gun at the car of men who were sent to assassinate him in his own home. Turturro for playing Marcia Gay Harden's oily, smarmy, double dealing brother, that makes himself out to be someone you just love to hate!
This film, like "The Untouchables", was convincing in it's portrayal of that violent period of American History. So it plays fast-and-loose with Akira Kurosawa's work, but it is a thrilling drama, nonetheless.
Quirky Heartless Story of Quirky Heartless Characters 
2008-04-19
This is not a great movie.
I watched The Coen Brothers Movie Collection (Fargo / Miller's Crossing / Barton Fink / Raising Arizona / Blood Simple) Blood Simple for the first time a few weeks ago and really enjoyed watching Francis McDermott. She was fantastic in Fargo. Fargo was a great movie with all the right moves, excellent tone, bizarre characters, and a flatly affected but very strong pregnant cop played by McDermott. The Coen brothers are known for their slightly off-kilter films. Raising Arizona with Nicholas Cage and Holly Hunter was a very successful and entertaining quirky movie. Strange characters and bizarre situations can be very entertaining. The formula just doesn't work in Miller's Crossing.
Garbrial Byrne stars as a dirtball gangster. He's the slimey no. 2 to Albert Finney in Finney's massive gangster world. Finney is the real power in this mystery city and Byrne's authority and power comes from only the fact that he has Finney's confidence. Finney is the star of the movie for me. In this unnamed city, the mayor and the police chief are in his pocket until his rival "goes to war" with his gang and starts to get the upper hand. Byrne is having a "liaison" with Albert Finney's galpal played ably by Marcia Gay Harden. Byrne is Finney's second in command, so his choice of girlfriend is highly questionable. Over the course of the convoluted plot and where dirtbags of all stripes show up and do their thing, Byrne is forced to kill a man to show his new pals that he is not a mole or traitor. Well, Byrne has a little itty bitty heart and lets the pathetic victim go so long as he disappears from town. The intended victim is his girlfriend's brother so it makes sense not to whack him.
Byrne makes his way between the two warring gangs all the while trying to get some money to pay off his gambling debts. It's all really quite silly and meaningless. There are lots of false deep moments with characters pretending to have souls and more than one layer to their shallow characters but they can't quite pull it off. This is a movie populated with characters who are all essentially the same, completely corrupt-- with little or no ethics or care for anybody else but themselves.
The main problem with quirky films is that they so often end badly. What I mean is that the filmmakers don't quite know how to conclude the story or they purposefully leave the ending obscure just so they can retain their "quirky" reputations.
Why is it seen as something of a failure in modern hollywood films to properly conclude a story? At one time, this was considered the mark of a well-constructed story-- one that has a beginning, middle, and end. Some "artists" apparently find the concept unfulfilling and perhaps even a bit constricting-- well, I want a proper ending to my stories! Why should the audience have to make up their own endings? It's just lazy story-telling disquised as avant-garde "art".
The ending in this movie was completely frustrating. Nothing was wrapped up for the main characters (except those that got whacked) and what seems like a perfectly reasonable option presented to Byrne at the closing is rejected by him for no apparent reason. Finney's character doesn't quite understand the ending and neither do I. But Byrne is apparently motivated by other character traits that unfortunately nobody in the audience knows anything about.
Folks in this movie don't learn alot, and don't change alot. It's just another "slice of life" in this particular weird, bizarro Coen brothers world.
The film is beautiful to watch with lush dark colors everywhere. Everybody is wan and pale and even the scenery is washed out. The direction is excellent and the pacing fine. The performances are all adequate or better, but it's just not enough. The dialogue is stilted and terse. Albert Finney owns this movie and so does Marcia Gay Harden.
Essentially, this approach to filmmaking and story telling is a treat for the filmmakers but a frustration for the audience. At the end of the movie I want to know what happens next, I want the storyline concluded, and I don't want to waste my time guessing and speculating about what happens to the characters after the credits because I really just don't care enough about the film or the shallow one or two dimensional characters to waste my time on the exercise.
If you love violence... 2008-04-05
I actually like some of the Coen brothers movies, but this isn't one of them. Sure, it's smart and well photographed and it's clever and has the Coen brothers style stamped on it. But, for me, none of that justifies the violence. Yes, you can send me nasty comments but I promise not to read them so don't bother. Why do I suspect that the majority of rave reviews here are from men? Why do I suspect that Mrs. Coen must have beaten her boys bloody at a very early age? Why else are they sooooo obsessed with blood. Maybe they were weaned on video games or machine guns...who knows what created these obsessions?!
Our hero here, the very charming Gabriel Byrne gets beaten and almost shot so many times that I lost count. Unfortunately, I had to shut down all of my senses just to survive this film that I stopped caring. I guess that's how all the characters survived...just stop caring and you can do any bloody thing. Personally I don't care how in style the Coens are I think they should both go into therapy for a long, long time.
The reason why I'm giving it any stars at all is the same reason I sat through it---Gabriel Byrne. (A female perspective.)
