Miller's Crossing

Starring:Gabriel Byrne, Marcia Gay Harden, John Turturro, Jon Polito, J.E. Freeman, Albert Finney, Mike Starr, Al Mancini, Richard Woods, Thomas Toner, Steve Buscemi, Mario Todisco, Olek Krupa, Michael Jeter, Lanny Flaherty, Jeanette Kontomitras, Louis Charles Mounicou III, John McConnell, Danny Aiello III, Helen Jolly
Director: Joel Coen, Ethan Coen
Studio: 20th Century Fox
Product Type: DVD

Product Description

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

Amazon.com essential video

Arguably the best film by Joel and Ethan Coen, the 1990 Miller's Crossing stars Gabriel Byrne as Tom, a loyal lieutenant of a crime boss named Leo (Albert Finney) who is in a Prohibition-era turf war with his major rival, Johnny Caspar (Jon Polito). A man of principle, Tom nevertheless is romantically involved with Leo's lover (Marcia Gay Harden), whose screwy brother (John Turturro) escapes a hit ordered by Caspar only to become Tom's problem. Making matters worse, Tom has outstanding gambling debts he can't pay, which keeps him in regular touch with a punishing enforcer. With all the energy the Coens put into their films, and all their focused appreciation of genre conventions and rules, and all their efforts to turn their movies into ironic appreciations of archetypes in American fiction, they never got their formula so right as with Miller's Crossing. With its Hammett-like dialogue and Byzantine plot and moral chaos mitigated by one hero's personal code, the film so transcends its self-scrutiny as a retro-crime thriller that it is a deserved classic in its own right. --Tom Keogh

Customer Reviews:

cohen bros EPIC gangster flick "millers crossing".......2007-06-27

i looked everywhere for this movie retail and amazon was the only one who didn't let me down. millers crossing is everything you need in a gangster movie. plenty of characters you love to hate (caspar, the DANE, the Shmatte) and characters you hate to love (verna, leo, and of course the rogueish Tom). this movie has firepower and surreality. the cohen bros. redefine the genre with a emotional tale of love, betrayal, loyalty and brutality and of course "ETHICS". BUY IT, WATCH IT AND WATCH IT AGAIN.

bored me to death.......2007-06-01

there's nothing i could say to this boring gangster movie, so cliched and deadbeat, lotsa blah, blah this and blah, blah that from several mouth-tough guys. the storyline couldn't be more boring. guys who played tough guys didn't bring out any credible toughness in this film, didn't know what those guys yammering about, didn't seem to be too big deal important and interesting. after tried 45 minutes with mucho yawns, still failed to get connected, so i ejected the dvd, cursed all the way to the video store and returned it. well, same as usual for a boring rental, lost money, time and gas again.

Excellent in all respects.......2007-05-12

Hard to find faults; only nits, like the fact that the many injuries Byrne should accumulate thru film should hospitalize him. Great acting, photography, the usual Coen kinkiness (not overdone), and a deliberate pacing that is nearly perfect. Characters are clearly defined and credible, even when their personalities are eccentric. The only thing missing is the lack of a feature-length commentary on the DVD.
I highly recommend this movie.

Please enter a title for your review.......2007-05-06

The kind of movie where the relevence of one scene to the next and even one line of dialogue to the next is often unclear. I don't understand how they can get made. I watched the first 20 minutes optimistically, and the next 20 in a catatonic state of dumbfounded frustration. If there was any story developing I couldn't tell you a thing about it.

Wonderfully ambivalent in every respect.......2007-03-09

Tom Reagan either sees the whole board like nobody else can, or he is an idiot of the first order. Either seems equally possible to me, as he engages in every double-cross known to man, for reasons which are never made entirely clear. Along the way, he is beaten up seemingly by nearly every inhabitant of the unnamed city's criminal underworld, but seems to accept his lot with resignation.

This movie had so many twists and turns that it required two consecutive viewings to insure that I had it right. One could watch it a million times and still never know exactly what Tom Reagan's motives are. The Coens certainly have no problem leaving the ultimate outcome somewhat unresolved, which always entertains me. Neat, tidy endings are rarely a reflection of real life.

One will find great performances throughout, particularly those of Albert Finney & Gabriel Byrne. The typically twisted Coen humor is on abundant display in the snappy dialogue, sometimes so snappy that the viewer can hardly follow along (Steve Buscemi speaks at such a blistering pace that I had put on the subtitles to make sense of it all).

As other reviewers have said, you either love the Coens or hate them. The surreal, ambivalent qualities which delight some will drives other crazy. I have found both to be true...by the time "Barton Fink" was over, I had no idea what I was even watching anymore, and wondered what the ballyhoo was all about. However, "Miller's Crossing" is a good example of all the best Coenesque qualities falling nicely into place, resulting in a movie which is hugely entertaining without being nearly as frustrating as some others.

Average customer rating:

Crossing Paths
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ANOTHER WINNER BY THE COEN BROTHERS...

Miller's Crossing [Region 2]
Starring: Gabriel Byrne , Marcia Gay Harden , John Turturro , Jon Polito , and J.E. Freeman
Director: Ethan Coen , Joel Coen , and Sam Mendes
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Binding: DVD

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ASIN: B00028HCLU

Customer Reviews:

ANOTHER WINNER BY THE COEN BROTHERS..........2006-05-29

This is a different kind of gangster flick. It is an intelligent foray into the world of the roaring twenties and the corruption and speakeasies engendered by Prohibition. This money making turf is zealously guarded by rival crime bosses: Leo, masterfully played by Albert Finney, and Johnny Caspar, well played by Jon Polito.

Tom Reagan, beautiful played by the darkly smoldering Gabriel Byrne, is Leo's main man. Unfortunately for him, he is feeling the noose around his neck tighten, as he owes some big gambling debts that he is unable to pay. Moreover, he is head over heels in love with Verna, played with hard edged, sexual intensity by Marcia Gay Harden, who just happens to be Leo's main squeeze. Moreover, Verna's bookmaker brother, Bernie Bernbaum, played with smarmy abandon by John Turturro, has a contract on his life and is on the run. When Tom finds himself helping Bernie, he soon discovers that no good deed goes unpunished. All this makes life very complicated and difficult for Tom.

At times, it is difficult to ascertain who the good guys and the bad guys really are, or for whom they really work, as they all seem to march to the beat of a different drummer. There is more to what is going on than initially meets the eye. Make no mistake, this is a multi-faceted movie that works well on many levels. As with all Coen brothers' films, there is an underlay of sly humor that permeates the film.

The dialogue is sharp and evocative of another time, as it is laden with Prohibition era slang, and its stacatto delivery is most effective. The characters all walk the walk and talk the talk. The performances by the entire cast are stellar. Look for Steve Buscemi in the small role of Mink, and do not blink or you will miss Frances McDormand's performance as Johnny Caspar's secretary. All in all, this is an excellent film and another feather in the collective cap of the Coen brothers.

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Average customer rating:

cohen bros EPIC gangster flick "millers crossing"
bored me to death
Excellent in all respects
Please enter a title for your review
Wonderfully ambivalent in every respect

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