150 Word Review: 'Miller's Crossing' (1990)
What is this, the high hat?
The Coen Brothers aren't known for being sentimental. Their best movies are dark comedies that laugh at human folly from a distance. However, their once-forgotten-but-now-celebrated 1990 Irish mob drama Miller's Crossing is probably their most romantic.
The Coen's noir banter is stylish as if everything takes place in an alternate reality version of 1920s Chicago. The costumes are perfect; the gangland violence gorgeous. The whole production is slick, but it has heart, and his name is Tom, played by Gabriel Byrne, a handsome, intelligent actor with sad eyes. The plot is an Arthurian love triangle between smart guy fixer Tom, his old friend, Leo, a mob boss, played by Albert Finney, and the dame they both love, a terrific Marcia Gay Harden. Miller's Crossing is about betrayals and loyalties, and Finney slowly slides into slippers before stealing a machine gun and murdering a quartet of assassins sent to silence him.
My Sixth Favorite Coen Brother’s Movie: ‘Burn After Reading’ (2008)
