• Miller’s Crossing

12/28/24 (Sat)

The Coen Brothers’ third effort is fantastic in every way: a razor-sharp script, great acting all around, distinctive characters, a superb balance of humor, blood and emotion. If the story of a gangster who plays both sides against each other sounds like Yojimbo, it’s because both are supposedly inspired by the same novel (or novels) by Dashiell Hammett. It apparently includes numerous hat-tips to other films, from the Godfather-like opening to the Casablanca­-like closing, but they largely escaped me.

The setting is 1929 in an unspecified American city. (It was filmed in New Orleans, but they must have chosen some pretty obscure locations.) An Irish-American mobster Leo who has the town in his pocket is being asked by a rival Italian-American mobster Johnny to eliminate small-time Jewish bookie Bernie, who apparently has inside info that is ruining the odds on the Italian’s fixed fights. The problem is that the Jewish guy is the brother of Leo’s girlfriend Verna. Leo’s right-hand man Tom warns Leo not to let sympathy get in the way of business decisions, telling him that Bernie is a small sacrifice for maintaining harmony with other gangs. Leo, eager to please his girl, refuses to listen. Tom does his best to convince him to trust no one – for one thing, Tom reveals that he’s sleeping with Leo’s beloved Verna. An enraged Leo beats him brutally and turfs him out.

That sends Tom into the arms of Johnny, who warily accepts him. Johnny’s first test of loyalty for the kid is to shoot Bernie. Tom takes Bernie into the woods but, after hysterical pleading, lets him go on the promise that he will stay “dead”, i.e., hidden from sight. Unfortunately Bernie subsequently has other ideas, and events begin to spiral out of control.

The double-crossings come fast and furious throughout – Tom betrays Leo, Bernie betrays Tom, Tom betrays Bernie and Johnny, Johnny betrays his henchman, and on and on. There’s even a gay angle: Bernie is apparently going out secretly with a guy who is dating Johnny’s fearsome henchman, the Dane, which is playing a very dangerous game. The story takes more twists and turns than a roller coaster, and it’s sometimes hard to keep up. But it’s a great ride. The film’s title is well chosen.

Tom has a repeated haunting dream of a hat blowing ever more distant through a field. It’s presumably a symbol of some kind, but it’s not wise to over-think that. When Tom relates the dream to Verna, she guesses that the hat proved something else entirely once it was retrieved, but Tom says that no, it was just a hat. One reviewer notes that Tom has managed to keep the hat at the end, suggesting that it represents his dignity for never selling out. Whatever. In any case, it’s a potent image.

Gabriel Byrne is perfect as the cunning, tight-lipped Tom with his all-business demeanor. He is fiercely loyal, as it turns out, but does not hesitate to take action when needed. (When Bernie begs Tom not to murder him at the end, crying “Look in your heart!”, Tom replies, “What heart?” before blowing his head off.) I’m glad they let him keep his Irish accent since it really works with the character, but his general reticence speaks louder than words. Tremendous acting. Albert Finney, who took over the role of Leo just two days before shooting when the original actor died, gives one of his best performances ever, which is saying a lot, and a hilarious Jon Polito is definitive as Johnny. Marcia Gay Harden was also superb as Verna, and kudos to J. E. Freeman as the Dane as well as John Turturro for his idiosyncratic bookie. Overall this is one of the best ensemble casts ever.

The script is extremely literate and quotable. It includes some un-PC language about Italians, Jews and others, which is absolutely fine in this context. The Coens apparently invented their own language in part, like Arthur Laurents did in West Side Story, but it sounded completely natural in the rapid-fire dialogue among the talkative characters. I actually downloaded the script to take a closer look.

The movie reportedly didn’t do well in the shadow of Goodfellas, which opened around the same time, but its reputation has picked up in the succeeding years. Both are essential. I can’t wait to re-watch this in a few years.