good back-story, and good acting

brilliant actors, brilliant editing

At first rather annoying in its heavy emphasis on reenactments, this movie ultimately proves fascinating, simply because the complicated, highly dramatic tale it tells still almost defies belief.

Not sure how, but this is easily one of the best movies all summer. Multiple levels of funny, never takes itself seriously, super colorful, and creative.

This is a parody of Hammett and Chandler, liberally mixed with Damon Runyon, but more sardonic than comical. Byrne is a Philip Marlowe type, although he's on the non-moral side of the gangster. Nevertheless he's still over-concerned with ethics, just like the Chandler hero. He gets beaten up all the time. He drinks plenty. He gambles a lot, but he has ethics. He feels like a sawn-off leg. In fact, this film is all about ethics; the ethics of crime, and gangsterism. Unethical gangsters don't last. Many of them are gay. This film was enjoyable and worth a watch, but somehow it didn't fully satisfy. It revealed the Coens as essentially experimental film-makers, prone to adopting other people's styles. Perhaps they are deeply shallow in the long run. Who shot the rug ? Did I miss something ?

Gabriel Byrne plays Irish gangster Tom Reagan, right hand man to crime boss Leo (Albert Finney). When trouble stirs between Jewish and Italian mobsters, Reagan uses his position of trust to manipulate those around him.I love gangster movies and Miller's Crossing, by the Coen Brothers, delivers much of what I find so entrancing about the genre: strong characters, wonderful period detail, explosive violence and a cool film noir/neo noir style. But for some reason—and I haven't quite put my finger on it yet—the film didn't grip me as much as I had expected, certainly not in the way that The Godfather or Once Upon A TIme in America did.It might be that I didn't quite swallow how effortlessly Reagan exploited every situation when, in reality, he would have been rumbled and 'taken care of'. It could be that the performances were a little too cartoonish for my liking, the gangsters almost a parody of those seen in other films. Or it could be that, underneath all of the great cinematography and stylish touches, there really isn't that much of a story to be told.6 out of 10. Worth seeing for Albert Finney toting a tommy gun and for Sam Raimi being riddled with machine gun fire.

Tom Regan (Gabriel Byrne) is a right-hand man to Prohibition-era crime boss Leo (Albert Finney). Fellow mobster Johnny Caspar (Jon Polito) approaches Leo to inform him that he intends to kill Bernie Bernbaum (John Turturro) for interfering in his match-fixing racket. Leo tells Johnny to back off as Bernie is paying Leo protection money, but Johnny refuses to back down resulting in the two mobsters going to war with each other. Tom unwittingly finds himself in the middle of the two mobsters doing his best to try and keep the peace (and more importantly stay alive).Miller's Crossing had an excellent sounding premise and has an impressive 5 star rating so therefore I fully expected that I would like it, but then again it is a Coen brothers film and I did wonder if the brothers would serve up yet another disappointment, and sadly, at least as far as I'm concerned they did...Let's begin with the positives; firstly, this film, like many Coen brothers films is exceptionally well-made; the camera work, editing, photography, costume and set-designs are flawless and it really is a handsome looking picture. The principal cast are all excellent (especially Finney and Polito) and the Coen's have really gone to town to get the best out of their cast - the film has a real authenticity about it and all the actors look, sound and act like mobsters from the era so full credit to the Coens in all of these respects. However...Once again, I'm finding myself with another Coen brothers film with a disappointingly weak, meandering and generally uninteresting narrative. When watching a lot of their films, it does feel like they're more concerned in their films looking good rather than actually being good by developing a strong narrative. In Miller's crossing, the Coen's move from story arc to story arc and from person to person without giving the story or characters much room to breathe. In essence what you get is some fighting, some arguing, some tough-talking, some he said she said BS and that's about it. None of the characters have any real depth or development and are completely uninteresting and as a result of all of this I found the story dull and found that I didn't care about any of the characters - to be honest the film went round the houses so often that I forgot who was playing what character half the time - to me they were just names that were shouted out on the screen.With a more involving story and with stronger and deeper characterisation this would have been formidable, but as it is Miller's crossing is another rather mediocre entry for the Coen brothers which deserves credit for its technical greatness and strong acting performances, but loses a lot of points for its rather laborious and uninteresting story.

This is a rich, tightly-woven gangster story about two warring mobs struggling for control of an American city during the prohibition era. It took me more than one viewing to approach understanding the mob lingo, character relationships, and story line of this movie, but it was well worth the work!! The movie is populated by men who are constantly trying to double cross each other in order to win (or gain) favor with one of the two warring mob bosses: the Italian, Johnny Caspar (Jon Polito), and the Irishman, Leo (Albert Finney). Only Bernie Bernbaum (John Turturro) and his sister, Verna (Marcia Gay Harden), seem to lie clearly outside the lines of either mob--and present a thorn in the sides of both. The principal anti-hero of the movie is Leo's lieutenant, Tom Reagan (Gabriel Byrne). Tom hates the way Leo is used by Verna (a hooker) to 'buy protection' for her brother. Tom keeps telling Leo that both Verna and Bernie are just grifters out for themselves. Tom is the real renegade of the movie who knows how to play both sides against the middle in hit after hit. He doesn't like being used or seeing his friends—if he has any--being used either. Tom has his own problems with gambling debts but is independent enough to refuse help from either boss in order to win him over to their side. Of all the Coen brothers movies, this one seems to have the most plot twists, which surprise and shock the viewer at every turn.