Miller's Crossing (1990)

Miller's Crossing (1990)

starring Gabriel Byrne, Marcia Gay Harden, John Turturro

directed by Joel Coen

115 minutes

Tom Regan (Gabriel Byrne) works for Leo, boss of the Irish mob. Leo is protecting a bookie named Bernie Bernbaum (John Turturro) from Johnny Caspar, boss of the Italian mob. Tom wants Leo to give up Bernie. Leo refuses. Johnny threatens to apply pressure if Leo doesn't hand over Bernie. Leo doesn't care. He's seeing Verna Bernbaum (Marcia Gay Harden), Bernie's sister, and he isn't going to give up Bernie.

A gang war erupts. Tom gets involved with Verna. Johnny tries to get Tom to convince Leo of the mistake he's making. Tom has gambling debts with another bookie that are getting out of control and he is danger of getting his legs broken if he doesn't pay up. Leo kicks Tom out of his organization when he finds out about Tom has been seeing Verna on the side. Johnny asks Tom to help him find and kill Bernie. Eddie Dane, Johnny's right hand man doesn't trust Tom. Things get crazy and stay crazy for most of the movie.

Thoughts

This is the first time I have watched Miller's Crossing in several years. I have probably seen this movie more than 10 times. I saw it at least once, maybe twice, in the theater when it was first released. This is the first Cohen Brothers film I saw and remains my favorite of their films.

Part of the reason I chose to watch this movie again is because since I last watched it I learned that it was a remake of The Glass Key. I watched both the 1935 and 1942 versions of The Glass Key in the past 13 months. I had not seen them before. I can see the parallels between Miller's Crossing and those two films now that I know what to look for. Still, I don't think that either of those movies can hold a candle to Miller's Crossing.

I love this movie. I love the set up and how it evolves. I love the characters that populate the story, including the minor ones, and how they interact. I love how the different elements of the story are layered together. There are so many good lines and great moments. This is one of my favorite films.