Throwback Thursday: ‘Miller’s Crossing’ (1990)

Just listening to Carter Burwell’s score for this film alone is enough to make my day. I just recently watched MILLER’S CROSSING again for the umptee-nth time and I swear to you the DVD menu played in it’s loop for a good 15-20 minutes before I even hit play, listening to the Opening Titles track. Burwell’s score is haunting and enchanting at the same time, drawing from traditional Irish music and notched up with a bit of cinematic flair. The film however, proved somewhat challenging for the Coen Brothers, who suffered writer’s block during the scripting of the film. As a remedy, Joel and Ethan took a few weeks off and in that time wrote a film about writer’s block called BARTON FINK.

The opening scene is very reminiscent of Coppola’s THE GODFATHER, but does so with dignity and yet still has Coen Brothers written all over it. Johnny Caspar (Jon Polito) is asking Leo to have Bernie “taken out” to reconcile an offense, but his request is denied since Bernie pays Leo protection money. The scene sets the tone of the film and makes clear that while this is a genre film, there’s no mistaking that it’s a Coen Brothers film, first and foremost.

MILLER’S CROSSING is easily one of the top ten gangster films of all time, but likely won’t make the majority of the lists. This is due in part to it’s relative lack of notoriety amidst the general public, but is also due in part to an under-appreciation of this fine film. Aside from the music, MILLER’S CROSSING is also an incredibly well shot film, masterfully photographed as if they had an endless supply of golden hours in which to shoot. The film was shot by cinematographer turned director Barry Sonnenfeld, accompanied by Michael R. Miller’s very capable editing.

Perhaps the most powerful in the entire film is the static shot over which the film’s title appears. As the Opening Titles music eases to a close, a bowler (hat) is dropped right-side up on the ground which is covered with the crunchy brown fallen leaves of autumn. A gust of wind kicks up and blows the hat gracefully off into the distance in subtle slow-motion. This scene can be compared to the wind-blown plastic grocery bag scene in AMERICAN BEAUTY (only less effective that the scene in MILLER’S CROSSING) whereas Ricky Fitts finds beauty and meaning in an otherwise insignificant occurrence.

The hat’s little ballet, which later takes on a more significant role in Tom’s story, moves us into the meat of the film. Tom Regan (Gabriel Byrne) struggles to broker peace between two rival crime bosses, but finds himself torn between loyalties as he pursues an affair with crime boss Leo’s (Albert Finney) girl Verna (Marcia Gay Harden). MILLER’S CROSSING takes place during the prohibition era. Leo is the boss of the Irish mob and Johnny Caspar, his rival, is boss of the Italian mob. Tom Regan is the guy in the middle attempting to avoid an all out war between the two families.

John Turturro plays Verna’s slimy, arrogant brother Bernie. He’s hiding out, not staying in one place too long and trying to get Tom Regan to help him out, but no one really likes Bernie except for his sister Verna. Everyone is trying to work the angle of Tom’s debt to Lazarre, knowing he’s in deep, but Tom is a man of principle, which comes in handy as a go-between for mob family talks. Tom has his head on straight, but he’s also too stubborn for his own good at times. Steve Buscemi plays Mink, a neurotic wormy little weasel who’s constantly wound like a spider-monkey with Red Bull flowing intravenously into his veins. Mink is an informant, known for knowing things. J.E. Freeman is great as Eddie Dane, Caspar’s “shadow” and no excuses, get-the-job-done hitman nicknamed The Dane for his intimidating height.

The film also has some great, gritty scenes of mob violence, including one of my favorites being Johnny Caspar’s first attempt to take Leo out, sending two men armed with Tommy Guns to Leo’s house. Caspar’s goons take out Leo’s guard with ease, but find the aging Leo hasn’t lost his wits nor his ability to kick some mobster ass, if necessary. In brilliant Coen Brothers fashion, the entire tense lead-flinging scene is cut to an operatic rendition of “Danny Boy” creating beauty in madness.

MILLER’S CROSSING is certainly a gangster film, but it really draws from many eras and influences in a long history of gangster films. Stylistically, the film is a cross-pollination of the gangster film and film noir. Tom’s dialogue is often written with the sharp and direct dialogue of the anti-hero from classic noir greats. Tom serves as a sort of hard-nosed noir private detective for Leo, working the angles to his own benefit while also mediating the squeeze on Leo for control of the city from Caspar.

When things start to go awry with Leo, Tom finds himself jockeying for a position of security as the tensions between Leo and Caspar thicken. Choosing sides based on what’s best for his own survival, Tom becomes a lone wolf in sheep’s clothing. The forlorn Tom Regan, thrown out to fend for himself, must make one important decision of life and death, in turn weighing his own life in the scales of moral justice. Tom quickly learns that he made the wrong decision and must work twice as hard to survive as a result. In the end, Tom learns to pull the strings, setting the rival pawns in play to take each other out while Tom gets a second chance to make the “right” decision.

Bernie: “Look in your heart.”
Tom: “What heart”?

This film is especially enjoyable for the more extreme movie geeks, as I am certain one could classify the Coen Brothers themselves. MILLER’S CROSSING has hidden homages to cinematic masterpieces. The long walk up the steps by Leo’s would-be assassins can imply influence from De Palma’s THE UNTOUCHABLES and the staircase scene, or from Coppola’s incredible montage of rival mafia Don’s being strategically taken out in THE GODFATHER. Watch for the boxing poster that appears in the film. The name Lars Thorwald is printed on the poster, which also happens to be the name of Raymond Burr’s character in Hitchcock’s REAR WINDOW. Or, even the endlessly ringing phone in Tom’s apartment, which is a throwback to Sergio Leone’s ONCE UPON A TIME IN AMERICA.

MILLER’S CROSSING also features a couple of noteworthy cameos for the most discerning movie geeks out there. Frances McDormand, a frequent player in Coen Brothers films and wife to Joel Coen, appears in a cameo as the mayor’s secretary. Sam Raimi, director of the EVIL DEAD and SPIDER-MAN films and long time friend and colleague of the Coen Brothers, appears in a cameo as the cocky two-pistol wielding tan overcoat-wearing gunman during the massive police gunfight at the Sons of Erin Club.

Having opened in October 1990 in the US, MILLER’S CROSSING is yet another fantastic film that is considered a failure by the studio, which was 20th Century Fox. The film cost an estimated $14 million to make, grossing just over $5 million in the domestic box office. MILLER’S CROSSING was nominated for four obscure awards, winning two of them, but regrettably received no love from Oscar in 1990. The DVD didn’t see the light of day until May 2003, featuring a featurette with Barry Sonnenfeld and cast interviews with Gabriel Byrne, Marcia gay Harden and John Turturro.