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Miller's Crossing (1990)
Follow up to Raising Arizona
**** Serious spoilers ahead *****
I highly anticipated watching Millers's Crossing because I am a big fan of Raising Arizona, Fargo, The Big Lebowski, and anything with Gabriel Byrne. But, having said that, I feel really let down by this film. I understand that it is a modern day version of the 1930's gangster genre but I found it lacking in all respects.
The dialogue is poor and you may need an Irish interpreter to appreciate the rare good lines, as Gabriel Byrne lays the brogue on pretty thick. The screenplay is supposedly worthy of accolades but I found it to be another example of a film maker's vain attempt to define a genre for the viewer.
The saddest part of the film is the waste of Byrne's talents. He is the only redeeming feature of this film yet he's hindered by whatever scraps the Coen brothers give him. Albert Finney is a consummate professional but it's painful to see he is just performing to pay his bills with this film. John Turturro is a great actor and he seemed believable in his role, but the script made his contribution difficult to appreciate. Marcia Harden is forgettable as the love interest that provides conflict between Byrne's and Finney's characters and the cameo from Frances McDormand was ruined by her obvious smile into the camera as she made her exit. Steve Buscemi has 10 seconds of screentime as a gambling hoodlum, and 5 seconds of screentime as a faceless corpse. Don't see this film for the acting.
The sets poorly depict a 1930's setting and the odd splash of depression era vernaculars seems contrived. The "plot twists" that are supposed to set this film aside from it's peers are as predictable as they are unbelievable. If you want to see the Coen brothers at their best see Fargo. If you want to see an entertaining gangster flick with great acting, see Goodfellas.
A Bridge Too Far (1977)
Re-enactment of the attempt to end WWII by Christmas 1944
In the autumn of 1944 Field Marshall Montgomery conceived a plan called Operation Market Garden that would open a corridor across the Rhine river and allow Allied troops to attack the heartland of Germany. When he and his staff devised the plan the Allied forces were being held in their positions by both German resistance and lack of supplies. At the time it appeared the war would evolve into the same static-front contest of attrition which occured in the first world war and led to horrible loss of life on all sides.
A Bridge Too Far is such an accurate portrayal of the events which occurred during Operation Market Garden that much of the criticism for the film is veiled criticism of the plan itself and of the actions of the participants. The criticism of Montgomery is undeserved, as he was a capable, if seemingly over cautious general. The plan was the boldest of any that were made during the war and the reasons Eisenhower approved it instead of one by Montgomery's rival Patton are valid. The results of the operation have been incorrectly regarded by some as a failure, but in fact it made the defense of Germany untenable and facilitated the final push into Germany during the spring of 1945.
The film itself is well written and contains imagery of battles and troop movements of a scale that has not been equaled, at least in any realistic manner. Earlier comments have been made that Attenborough's attention to detail has resulted in an overly lengthy film but I disagree with that assessment. Any film which depicts a part of the war which directly effected the second half of the 20th century should be given as much time as necessary to tell it's story. There is only one part of the film that has no direct bearing on the narrative of events and that is the sub plot involving James Caan's character, which does add 20 minutes to the running time of 3 hours.
The scenes showing the drop of the British and American airborne forces are visually stunning and worth the price of a DVD for their own sake. Anthony Hopkins is at his best as the unenviable forward commander at the final bridge at Arnhem. My only regret is that the actual glider landings were not depicted, presumably because of the risk involved.
The film should be considered required viewing by anyone who claims to be a war film fan, or anyone interested in the events which occurred during the second world war.