Miller's Crossing (1990)

Director:

Joel Coen

Writers:

Joel Coen (written by) and
Ethan Coen (written by)

Release Date:

October 1990 (USA)

Genre:

Crime | Drama | Thriller

Tagline:

What's the rumpus?

Plot:

Tom Regan, an advisor to a Prohibition-era crime boss, tries to keep the peace between warring mobs but gets caught in divided loyalties.

Plot Keywords:

Violence | Gangster | Prohibition | Irish Mob | Police

Awards:

2 wins & 2 nominations

Cast

Gabriel Byrne	...	Tom Reagan
Marcia Gay Harden	...	Verna
John Turturro	...	Bernie Bernbaum
Jon Polito	...	Johnny Caspar
J.E. Freeman	...	Eddie Dane
Albert Finney	...	Leo
Mike Starr	...	Frankie
Al Mancini	...	Tic-Tac
Richard Woods	...	Mayor Dale Levander
Thomas Toner	...	O'Doole
Steve Buscemi	...	Mink
Mario Todisco	...	Clarence "Drop" Johnson
Olek Krupa	...	Tad
Michael Jeter	...	Adolph
Lanny Flaherty	...	Terry

Also Known As:

De paseo a la muerte (Argentina) (Uruguay) [es]
Miller's Crossing (Austria) (West Germany) [de]
A halál keresztútján (Hungary) [hu]
Ajuste Final (Brazil) [pt]
Crocevia della morte (Italy) [it]
História de Gangsters (Portugal) [pt]
Milerovo raskrsce (Serbia) [sr]
Miller's Crossing (Finland) [fi]
Miller's Crossing - Un cadavre sous le chapeau (France) [fr]
Miller's Crossing - vaarallista peliä (Finland) (video title) [fi]
Millerovo raskrizje (Croatia) [hr]
Muerte entre las flores (Spain) [es]
Razboi în sânul mafiei (Romania) [ro]
Sciezka strachu (Poland) [pl]
To perasma tou Miller (Greece) [el]
Tzomet Miller (Israel: Hebrew title) [iw]
Un cadavre sous le chapeau (Canada: French title) [fr]

Runtime:

115 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English | Italian | Irish Gaelic | Yiddish

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby SR | Dolby Digital (DVD version)

Certification:

Iceland:16 | Singapore:NC-16 | France:-12 | Brazil:16 | USA:TV-MA (cable rating) | South Korea:18 | Norway:11 (DVD rating) | Norway:15 (TV rating) | Germany:18 (nf) | Argentina:16 | Australia:M | Finland:K-16 | Germany:18 (video rating) | Netherlands:16 | New Zealand:R18 | Portugal:M/16 | Sweden:15 | UK:15 (re-rating) | UK:18 | USA:R (Approved No. 30173) | Canada:R (Canadian Home Video rating)

Filming Locations:

New Orleans, Louisiana, USA

Company:

Circle Films

Trivia:

When Tom pays a visit to Drop Johnson, a boxing poster is visible to the right of the front doorway with the name "Lars Thorwald" printed very clearly on it. Lars Thorwald is the name of Raymond Burr's character in Rear Window (1954)

Goofs:

Anachronisms: The US flag in the mayor's office in the 1920s appears to be a 50-star flag.

Quotes:

Tic-Tac: C'mon, Tom. Boss wants to see ya. He didn't have time to engrave nothin' formal.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Lies & Illusions (2009)

Soundtrack:

Danny Boy

The best Coens' movie, bar none.

There are many new movies that have been released on DVD this year. Forget them, and pick up a copy of this movie. It has only recently become available on DVD. The unavailability of this movie on DVD for so many years has been a sin. I own this movie on laser disc and it is one of the reasons that I still have a laser disc player.

I cannot do a better job than the other reviewers have in pointing out what make this film so outstanding. Just let me repeat the usual: The casting is flawless; the dialogue is on the mark, with dozens of juicy bon mots; the humor is sublime; the cinematography is absolutely gorgeous; and the plot, while complex, is still comprehensible enough not to detract from the action.

This movie is as close to flawless as a movie can be.

And one more thing, this movie has nothing in common with either "Yojimbo" (which was itself a rip-off of Dashiel Hammett's "Red Harvest") or "Fistful of Dollars". Well, OK, I'll grant that they both take place in towns dominated by two strong gangs of criminals (as if that's never been the case in any other movie,) but the other plot elements and the dialogue are completely original.

**** out of ****