It's time to take a balanced view of MILLER'S CROSSING. It is a very good film, with some approaches and scenes touching on genius and pointing ahead to some of the great Coen Brothers work to follow.
However, on its own, it is a well-realized film in most regards. Mode, narration, dialog, performances, music, cinematography, and direction are all first rate. MILLER'S CROSSING finds its own "feel" for its topic, for its times, for its genre, and that is a noteworthy achievement for a movie as dark, uncompromising, and uninspiring as it is.
The movie seems to say we must live within our destinies--efforts to overcome, or, in Tom Reagan's (Gabriel Byrne's) case, straddle between one destiny or another can be fatal. Tom is razor-smart, smart enough to see several moves ahead in the big game of gangster politics, but also smart enough to see the emptiness of it all. He constantly tries to fight off his own sentimentality, and it gets the best of him, as he needs to be smart or sentimental, not both. And that sentimentality proves fatal for some.
What keeps this film short of greatness, in my opinion, is that MILLER'S CROSSING seems to straddle that very line of sentimentality vs. intelligence. In turn, it is a great send-up of gangster pictures, a terrific historical commentary on the ethnic dimension to American gangsters, a wonderful depiction of characters within their era, an existential neo-noir. In the end, however, it seems to fall short of having a lot to say, being content at putting on its show. This makes it, as I said, a very good movie because it has put the show so well.
Highly recommended--but beware of the over-praise. It also drags in spots, and at times its over-the-top satire cuts into its effectiveness as drama, or maybe the other way around. In my mind, FARGO remains the most complete Coen film, in a fine body of unusual and idiosyncratic works.
However, on its own, it is a well-realized film in most regards. Mode, narration, dialog, performances, music, cinematography, and direction are all first rate. MILLER'S CROSSING finds its own "feel" for its topic, for its times, for its genre, and that is a noteworthy achievement for a movie as dark, uncompromising, and uninspiring as it is.
The movie seems to say we must live within our destinies--efforts to overcome, or, in Tom Reagan's (Gabriel Byrne's) case, straddle between one destiny or another can be fatal. Tom is razor-smart, smart enough to see several moves ahead in the big game of gangster politics, but also smart enough to see the emptiness of it all. He constantly tries to fight off his own sentimentality, and it gets the best of him, as he needs to be smart or sentimental, not both. And that sentimentality proves fatal for some.
What keeps this film short of greatness, in my opinion, is that MILLER'S CROSSING seems to straddle that very line of sentimentality vs. intelligence. In turn, it is a great send-up of gangster pictures, a terrific historical commentary on the ethnic dimension to American gangsters, a wonderful depiction of characters within their era, an existential neo-noir. In the end, however, it seems to fall short of having a lot to say, being content at putting on its show. This makes it, as I said, a very good movie because it has put the show so well.
Highly recommended--but beware of the over-praise. It also drags in spots, and at times its over-the-top satire cuts into its effectiveness as drama, or maybe the other way around. In my mind, FARGO remains the most complete Coen film, in a fine body of unusual and idiosyncratic works.