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''Miller's Crossing'' is a 1990 American
neo-noir Neo-noir is a film genre that adapts the visual style and themes of 1940s and 1950s American film noir for contemporary audiences, often with more graphic depictions of violence and sexuality. During the late 1970s and the early 1980s, the term ...
gangster film written, directed and produced by Joel and Ethan Coen, and starring
Gabriel Byrne Gabriel James Byrne (born 12 May 1950) is an Irish actor. He has received a Golden Globe Award as well as nominations for a Grammy Award, two Primetime Emmy Awards and two Tony Awards. Byrne was awarded the Irish Film and Television Academy L ...
, Marcia Gay Harden, John Turturro, Jon Polito, J. E. Freeman, and Albert Finney. The plot concerns a power struggle between two rival gangs and how the protagonist, Tom Reagan (Byrne), plays both sides against each other. In 2005, ''
Time Time is the continuous progression of existence that occurs in an apparently irreversible process, irreversible succession from the past, through the present, and into the future. It is a component quantity of various measurements used to sequ ...
'' chose ''Miller's Crossing'' as one of the 100 greatest films made since the inception of the periodical. ''Time'' critic Richard Corliss called it a "noir with a touch so light, the film seems to float on the breeze like the frisbee of a fedora sailing through the forest".


Plot

The year is 1929, Tom Reagan is the right-hand man for Irish mobster Leo O'Bannon, a
political boss In the politics of the United States of America, a boss is a person who controls a faction or local branch of a political party. They do not necessarily hold public office themselves; most historical bosses did not, at least during the times of th ...
who runs an unnamed U.S. city during
Prohibition Prohibition is the act or practice of forbidding something by law; more particularly the term refers to the banning of the manufacture, storage (whether in barrels or in bottles), transportation, sale, possession, and consumption of alcoholic b ...
. Leo sets off a mob war when he extends protection to his girlfriend Verna's brother, a bookie named Bernie Bernbaum, who is skimming off the
match fixing In organized sports, match fixing (also known as game fixing, race fixing, throwing, rigging, hippodroming, or more generally sports fixing) is the act of playing or officiating a contest with the intention of achieving a predetermined result, v ...
scheme of Leo's rival, the Italian gangster Johnny Caspar. The situation is further complicated by the fact that behind Leo's back, Verna is also sleeping with Tom. Despite his own relationship with Verna, Tom presses Leo to give up her brother to Caspar. When the war heats up, with an assassination attempt on Leo, Tom tries to persuade Leo that he is foolish to protect Bernie on Verna's behalf, making the point by revealing his affair with her. Leo publicly beats Tom and cuts ties with both him and Verna. Cast out and needing work, Tom turns to Caspar. As a loyalty test, Caspar commands Tom to kill Bernie, an awkward request given Tom's relationship with Bernie's sister. With Caspar's henchmen in tow, Tom leads Bernie to his execution in the woods at a spot called Miller's Crossing. Bernie grovels for his life and desperately begs Tom not to kill him. Tom fakes the killing by firing his gun into the ground and orders Bernie to leave town. Caspar's henchmen, who are within earshot but cannot see the two men, are fooled and neglect to check for the body before leaving with Tom. With Leo weakened, Caspar takes his place as city boss, controlling the police and using them to destroy Leo's operations. Within Caspar's gang, there is tension between Tom and Caspar's trusted enforcer, the brutal Eddie Dane ("the Dane"). Upon learning that his men did not actually see Tom kill Bernie, the Dane takes Tom back to Miller's Crossing to verify that Bernie's body is there. Tom expects to find no corpse and to be executed for it, but instead the group finds a decomposing body that had been shot in the face and disfigured beyond recognition by birds. The Dane and his men assume the body is that of Bernie, but it is actually that of the Dane's lover Mink, whom Bernie had secretly killed and placed as a decoy where his own body should have been. Tom is now vulnerable if the Dane or Caspar discovers the identity of the body, a fact that Bernie uses in an attempt to blackmail Tom into killing Caspar. With Bernie supposedly dead, someone continues to cut into Caspar's match fix, and Tom and the Dane each try to convince Caspar that the other is behind it. Tom uses Mink's sudden disappearance to sow suspicion about the Dane by insinuating that Mink has gone into hiding after he and the Dane betrayed Caspar. Caspar must decide between Tom and the Dane, a dilemma he resolves by shooting the Dane in the head as Tom looks on. Tom then thins out his rivals by engineering a surprise meeting between Bernie and Caspar, knowing that the first one to be seen by the other is likely to be killed. Shortly after the arranged time, Tom arrives to discover that Bernie has killed Caspar. Tom tricks Bernie into surrendering his gun and declares his intent to kill him in retribution for his blackmail. Bernie again begs for mercy, but Tom rejects his plea and shoots him dead. With Caspar and the Dane dead, Leo resumes his post as the only boss in town. At Bernie's burial, Verna, now back in Leo's good graces, reacts coldly to Tom and walks back to her car. Leo notifies Tom that Verna has proposed to marry him. He offers Tom his job back but Tom turns him down and stays behind, watching Leo as he walks away.


Cast


Production

While writing the screenplay, the Coen brothers tentatively titled the film ''The Bighead''—their nickname for Tom Reagan. The first image they conceived was that of a black hat coming to rest in a forest clearing; then, a gust of wind lifts it into the air, sending it flying down an avenue of trees. This image closes the film's opening credit sequence. Because of the intricate, dense plot, the Coens suffered from
writer's block Writer's block is a non-medical condition, primarily associated with writing, in which an author is either unable to produce new work or experiences a creative slowdown. Writer's block has various degrees of severity, from difficulty in coming ...
with the script. They stayed with a close friend of theirs at the time, William Preston Robertson in
Saint Paul, Minnesota Saint Paul (often abbreviated St. Paul) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital city of the U.S. state of Minnesota and the county seat of Ramsey County, Minnesota, Ramsey County. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, ...
, hoping that a change of scenery might help. After watching the romantic comedy ''
Baby Boom A baby boom is a period marked by a significant increase of births. This demography, demographic phenomenon is usually an ascribed characteristic within the population of a specific nationality, nation or culture. Baby booms are caused by various ...
'' one night, they returned to New York City and wrote ''
Barton Fink ''Barton Fink'' is a 1991 American black comedy thriller film written, produced, edited and directed by the Coen brothers. Set in 1941, it stars John Turturro in the title role as a young New York City playwright who is hired to write scripts f ...
'' (in three weeks) before resuming the ''Miller's Crossing'' screenplay. The budget was reported by film industry magazines as around $14 million, but the Coens have said that the film cost "substantially less" than that. According to Paul Coughlin, "The casting of Byrne allows for the psychological assurance, self-confidence and icy demeanour to be physically reproduced in the sturdy and unruffled presence of the tall and lean actor. Tom is 'a man who walks behind a man, whispers in his ear', he is the brains behind Leo's operation, and he is the heartless centre of ''Miller's Crossing''." Although Byrne was a native Irishman playing a lieutenant to an Irish mobster, the Coens did not originally want him to use his own accent in the film. Byrne argued that his dialogue was structured in such a way that it was a good fit for his accent, and after he tried it the Coens agreed.Jackson, Matthew. "13 Fascinating Facts About ''Miller's Crossing''", Mental Floss, October 10, 2015
/ref> During casting they had envisioned
Trey Wilson Donald Yearnsley "Trey" Wilson III (January 21, 1948 – January 16, 1989) was an American character actor known for playing rural, authoritarian-type characters, most notably in comedies such as ''Raising Arizona'' and ''Bull Durham''. Career D ...
(who played Nathan Arizona in their previous film '' Raising Arizona'') as gangster boss Leo O'Bannon, but two days before principal photography began, Wilson died from a brain hemorrhage and Finney was cast. Roger Westcombe calls Finney's portrayal of Leo "perfectly nuanced in a brilliant performance". Finney also appears in a cameo, as an elderly female ladies' room attendant. The Coens cast family and friends in minor roles. Director
Sam Raimi Samuel M. Raimi ( ; born October 23, 1959) is an American filmmaker. He is best known for directing the first three films in the ''Evil Dead'' franchise (1981–present) and the ''Spider-Man'' trilogy (2002–2007). He also directed the super ...
– a friend of the Coens – appears as the snickering gunman at the siege of the Sons of Erin social club, while
Frances McDormand Frances Louise McDormand (born Cynthia Ann Smith; June 23, 1957) is an American actress and film producer. In a career spanning over four decades, McDormand has received numerous accolades, including four Academy Awards, two Primetime Emmy Awa ...
– Joel's wife – appears as the mayor's secretary. The role of The Swede was written for Peter Stormare, but he was busy playing
Hamlet ''The Tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark'', often shortened to ''Hamlet'' (), is a Shakespearean tragedy, tragedy written by William Shakespeare sometime between 1599 and 1601. It is Shakespeare's longest play. Set in Denmark, the play (the ...
(a role often referred to as "The Dane"). J. E. Freeman was cast and the name of the character was changed to The Dane, while Stormare went on to be featured in '' Fargo'' and '' The Big Lebowski''. The city in which the story takes place is unidentified but the film was shot in
New Orleans New Orleans (commonly known as NOLA or The Big Easy among other nicknames) is a Consolidated city-county, consolidated city-parish located along the Mississippi River in the U.S. state of Louisiana. With a population of 383,997 at the 2020 ...
, as the Coen Brothers were attracted to its look. Ethan Coen commented in an interview, "There are whole neighborhoods here of nothing but 1929 architecture. New Orleans is sort of a depressed city; it hasn't been gentrified. There's a lot of architecture that hasn't been touched, store-front windows that haven't been replaced in the last sixty years." Principal photography ran from January 27 to April 28, 1989.


Influences

Christopher Orr sees the opening scene, in which Johnny Caspar (Jon Polito) confronts Leo O'Bannon (Albert Finney) and Tom Reagan (Gabriel Byrne) as "an obvious nod to the opening of ''
The Godfather ''The Godfather'' is a 1972 American Epic film, epic crime film directed by Francis Ford Coppola, who co-wrote the screenplay with Mario Puzo, based on Puzo's best-selling The Godfather (novel), 1969 novel. The film stars an ensemble cast inc ...
''". Roger Westcombe finds the title sequence of a fedora being blown off its bed of fallen leaves in the forest to be a subtle homage to
Jean-Pierre Melville Jean-Pierre Grumbach (20 October 1917 – 2 August 1973), known professionally as Jean-Pierre Melville (), was a French filmmaker. Considered a spiritual godfather of the French New Wave, he was one of the first fully-independent French filmmake ...
's crime film '' Le Doulos'' (1962), which ends with the gangster protagonist's fate underlined wistfully by the shot of his fedora coming to rest, alone in the frame, in the soil of the forest floor. ''Miller's Crossing'' quotes many gangster films and films noir. Many situations, characters and dialogue are derived from the work of Dashiell Hammett, particularly his 1931 novel '' The Glass Key''. There are some parallels between the two stories and many scenes and lines are lifted from this novel. The relationship between Tom and Leo in the film mirrors the relationship between Ned Beaumont and Paul Madvig, the principal characters of the Hammett novel.Moraes, Francis. (March 17, 2010)
Miller's Crossing
Another important Hammett source was his 1929 novel '' Red Harvest'', which details the story of a gang war in a corrupt Prohibition-era American city, a war initiated by the machinations of the main character. While ''Miller's Crossing'' follows the plot and main characters of ''The Glass Key'' fairly closely, the film has no direct scenes, characters, or dialogue from ''Red Harvest'' except for using a fixed boxing fight as a plot device. Orr also notes, "The ending of ''Miller's Crossing'' makes even clearer reference to the immaculate final scene of '' The Third Man'': a funeral, a protagonist abandoned by his car, who watches as the last person he cares for in the world walks away down a dirt road hemmed by trees".


Reception and legacy

''Miller's Crossing'' opened in limited release in New York City on September 22, 1990, after premiering at the
New York Film Festival The New York Film Festival (NYFF) is a film festival held every fall in New York City, presented by Film at Lincoln Center. Founded in 1963 by Richard Roud and Amos Vogel with the support of Lincoln Center president William Schuman, NYFF i ...
the day before. It was a box-office failure at the time, making slightly more than $5 million, out of its $10–$14 million budget. On
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, the film has an approval rating of 93% based on 68 reviews, with an average rating of 8.2/10. The website's critical consensus reads, "Though possibly more notable for its distinctive style than an airtight story, this Coen brothers' take on the classic gangster flick features sharp dialogue, impressive cinematography, and a typically quirky cast of characters." On
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, the film has a weighted average score of 76 out of 100, indicating "generally favorable reviews". Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of “C-“ on an A+ to F scale. Film critic David Thomson calls the film "a superb, languid fantasia on the theme of the gangster film that repays endless viewing". Of Turturro's performance he says "This could be the finest work of one of our best supporting actors".
Roger Ebert Roger Joseph Ebert ( ; June 18, 1942 – April 4, 2013) was an American Film criticism, film critic, film historian, journalist, essayist, screenwriter and author. He wrote for the ''Chicago Sun-Times'' from 1967 until his death in 2013. Eber ...
gave it 3/4 stars, stating "It is likely to be most appreciated by movie lovers who will enjoy its resonance with films of the past". ''Miller's Crossing'' won the Critic's Award at the 2nd Yubari International Fantastic Film Festival in February 1991. It was nominated for the Grand Prix of the Belgian Syndicate of Cinema Critics. ''
The Sopranos ''The Sopranos'' is an American Crime film#Crime drama, crime drama television series created by David Chase. The series follows Tony Soprano (James Gandolfini), a New Jersey American Mafia, Mafia boss who suffers from panic attacks. He reluct ...
'' pays homage to ''Miller's Crossing'', particularly in the "Pine Barrens" episode. Frank Moraes says, "Gabriel Byrne does an excellent job in this film, ... this film lives and dies on his performance". Taking particular note of the work of cinematographer Barry Sonnenfeld and production designer Dennis Gassner, Christopher Orr observed, "Miller's Crossing is an aesthetic pleasure of the highest order on nearly every level". ''
Time Time is the continuous progression of existence that occurs in an apparently irreversible process, irreversible succession from the past, through the present, and into the future. It is a component quantity of various measurements used to sequ ...
'' and ''Total Film'' placed it in their top 100 list. In 2010, ''The Guardian'' called it the 24th best crime movie of all time.


Soundtrack

The score was written by
Carter Burwell Carter Benedict Burwell (born November 18, 1954) is an American film composer. He has frequently collaborated with the Coen brothers, having scored most of their films. He has also scored films by other directors such as Bill Condon, Todd Haynes ...
, his third collaboration with the Coen brothers. The main theme is based on the Irish folk ballad "Lament for Limerick". Burwell takes a traditional piece of music with some culturally relevant connection and uses it as the central motif of the broader arrangement. The main theme has been utilized in trailers for a number of other films, including ''
The Shawshank Redemption ''The Shawshank Redemption'' is a 1994 American Prison film, prison Drama (film and television), drama film written and directed by Frank Darabont, based on the 1982 Stephen King novella ''Rita Hayworth and Shawshank Redemption''. The film t ...
'', as well as in an ad for Caffrey's Irish Ale. The soundtrack includes jazz tunes, such as "
King Porter Stomp "King Porter Stomp" is a jazz standard by pianist Jelly Roll Morton, first recorded in 1923. The composition is considered to be important in the development of jazz.Magee, Jeffrey. "'King Porter Stomp' and the Jazz Tradition", p.46, ''Current Musi ...
", reflective of the era in which the film is set. Other songs include " Danny Boy", sung by Frank Patterson, an Irish tenor, which is heard in Leo's house. The Coen Brothers: 8 Unforgettable Music Moments - UPROXX
/ref> Patterson can also be heard singing Jimmy Campbell's " Goodnight Sweetheart" in a scene in the Shenandoah Club.


Track listing

# "Opening Titles" – 1:53 # "Caspar Laid Out" – 1:57 # "A Man and His Hat" – 0:56 # "King Porter Stomp" (performed by
Jelly Roll Morton Ferdinand Joseph LaMothe ( Lemott, later Morton; c. September 20, 1890 – July 10, 1941), known professionally as Jelly Roll Morton, was an American blues and jazz pianist, bandleader, and composer of Louisiana Creole descent. Morton was jazz ...
) – 2:09 # "The Long Way Around" – 1:39 # "Miller's Crossing" – 2:35 # "After Miller's Crossing" – 0:42 # "Runnin' Wild" (performed by Joe Grey) – 3:06 # "Rage of the Dane" – 0:05 # "All a You Whores" – 0:24 # "Nightmare in the Trophy Room" – 1:37 # "He Didn't Like His Friends" – 0:24 # "Danny Boy" (performed by Frank Patterson) – 4:05 # "What Heart?" – 0:49 # "End Titles" – 4:44 # "Goodnight Sweetheart" (performed by Frank Patterson) – 0:54


See also

Two other gangster films released in the same year as ''Miller's Crossing'': *'' Goodfellas'' *'' The Godfather Part III''


References


External links

* * {{Coen brothers 1990 crime drama films 1990 LGBTQ-related films 20th Century Fox films American crime drama films American gangster films American LGBTQ-related films American neo-noir films Films about Irish-American culture Films about the Irish Mob Films directed by the Coen brothers Films scored by Carter Burwell Films set in the 1920s Films shot in New Orleans Mafia films 1990s English-language films 1990s American films Films with screenplays by the Coen brothers English-language crime drama films LGBTQ-related crime drama films