Rating: 
Summary: Overlooked or what!
Review: Miller's Crossing is by far the best of the Coen brothers' movies (Blood Simple and Raising Arizona I'd rate next). It ranks alongside The Godfather and Goodfellas as the best of ganster flicks. It's serpentine plot treats the viewer with intelligence. Great performances and exceptional set pieces. The cinematography and music score are notable too. One of the few movies that gets better with each viewing -I always find something new in the plot or characterisations. Honestly, I don't know why more praise is heaped upon the Coens' more recent films (notably Fargo and the Big Lebowski). Why is it not on DVD when the studios have released so much trash on DVD that I wouldn't accept even if they were free!
Rating:
Summary: Anatomy of A Crime Classic
Review: Though it seems northern and cold, we never actually find out where Miller's Crossing is set. My guess is somewhere on the border of Ellroy's corrupted LA, Scorsese's Mafia world and a third territory; a pulpy, straight-faced, frosty, warm Coen Brothers land. Here, a two timing bookie, Bernie Bernbaum has upset a rather strange gangster, Johnny Caspar. Caspar's primary concern is "etics" i.e. ethics. For the bookie's unethical offense (he leaked information about a fixed fight), Caspar and his domineeringly vicious right-hand man, Eddie Dane want to have Bernbaum killed because "If you can't trust a fix, what can ya trust". For the killing to go through, Caspar must have a sit down with the guy who's "runnin things". That guy is Leo, the mick who may or may not be going soft. Either way, he won't give Caspar the go ahead because he's in love with Bernie's sister Verna. Except that Verna, is in what is called a "business arrangement" with Leo and is really in love with Tom, Leo's right-hand man who may or may not be cold-blooded. He and Verna are engaged in a love/maim relationship. "I never met a person who makes being a son-of-a-bitch such a point of pride" she tells him. Rest assured that the above synopsis is about five minutes worth of film. The Byzantine plot, involving crosses, double crosses and more crosses, is arousing in its dexterity. Guided by Gabriel Byrne's studied, intelligent performance as Tom, a man with an acid tongue, revealing as little as possible, the plot which spirals immaculately around the enigmatic protagonist is shaped into a figure of sculpted perfection. No scene is wasted. Not one line of dialogue is unmemorable. Yet Miller's Crossing has paid for that. Many critics have complained that for a film to be so aesthetically attractive, it has to be slick and soulless. It has never gotten the respect it deserved, never gets mentioned in the same breath with other crime classics such as Chinatown or The Maltese Falcon, films I consider Miller's Crossing to be at least the equal of. Then again, Miller's Crossing is no ordinary crime film. At times it resembles an absurdist comedy as when a spectacularly obese woman joins a violent confrontation between Tom and Leo with her own comically small handbag. Or when one member of a completely bribable police force shoots an innocent shop keeper dead, and laughs pathetically at the dead man's shaking body, he looks back at the rest of the police force, they all start laughing loudly as if they were in some comic strip. Then the police officer is riddled with a staggering amount of bullets. At other times, the film is a melodrama as when Verna confronts Tom about the fate of her brother. In the film's most memorable scene, out on Miller's Crossing, a beautiful part of the forest in a seemingly perpetual fall season, the place where many of the "hits" i.e. murders take place a man running infront of another, about to be executed starts begging pathetically for his life. "I beg of you," he asks first. "Look in your heart" he then pleads. "I'm praying to you," he finally begs, on his knees in a chilling pictorial of cruelty and beauty. The outcome of this scene is the axis on which the whole film rotates. That something may lie under those poisonous one liners and sculpted exteriors. A softness that should in all self-serving wisdom remain obscure. It seems that everything fell into place for this film. Barry Sonnenfeld's autumnal browns, oaks and reds set a frosty, evocative, elegant atmosphere. Nothing in his own films, as a director has ever looked so good. I consider Carter Burwell's score to be the second best ever written (after Ennio Morricone's The Mission). The haunting opening theme alone tells that this "crime" film is like no other. And a beautiful rendition of "Danny Boy" by Frank Patterson, that plays over the film's second best scene, was so memorable, that this violent scene which also reveals an unexpected dimension to the Leo character became known simply as the "Danny Boy" scene. Again the beauty of this rendition is in absolute opposition with the violence of the scene. The result is strangely majestic. With a script of this quality I doubt that any actor would look bad, but all the actors shine, probably knowing that they would never again have an opportunity to utter suck needle-like words. Many of the words seem to be invented, with phrases like "What's the rompus" replacing the traditional hello, others seemed to be dug up from some really old detective novel, with words like "twist" meaning woman and "schmada" meaning guy. Even the secondary character such as The Dane gets to flex his vicious verbosity in an exchange such as this: The Dane: Where is Leo? Man lying on the floor: Why should I tell? You're going to kill me anyway. The Dane: Because if you told me and you were lying, I wouldn't get to kill ya then. Man lying on the floor: He's having a get together tomorrow at his whisky joint. Check it. It's gold. The Dane: You know what buster. I believe you. I don't think I need to point out what happens next. Everytime I watch Miller's Crossing I love it a little more. It's a beautiful film to look at. It is sharp, gripping and absorbing from start to finish. But everytime I watch the credits roll on what has been such an experience, I think that there is one word to describe the way I feel about it. Awe.
Rating:
Summary: Flawless
Review: I don't know what it is about the Coen brothers, but the have the uncanny ability of getting people's best out of them. Nicholas Cage, William H. Macy, Holly Hunter, Frances McDormand, and in Miller's Crossing, Gabiel Byrne, have all give the best performances of their careers in Coen movies. (The others I mentioned were in Raising Arizona, Fargo, Raising Arizona, and Fargo, respiectively.) Miller's Crossing, in my opinion is their best, which would puts it high in the running for best ever in my opinion. One reviewer called it "the thinking man's mob movie." That oversimplifies it in my opinion. However, he/she is correct that it is a movie for the thinking man. I had to watch it several times to pick up on every masterful nuance. The only fault is that, like Fargo, is may be too dark for some people's tastes. If that is the case for you, I reccomend The Big Lebowski, and Coen film that is equally complicated and nuanced, but hilarious. Happy Viewing!
Rating: 
Summary: Hollywood's Disturbing Love Affair with Gangsters
Review: I'm no Coen Brothers fan, so I watched this out of interest in the actors. The first problem I had with it, however, was that everyone was so tight and emotionally closed down. Yes, I understand that's part of who these people need to be, but still it was the only time I have ever watched a movie *knowing* there was a director just out of camera range. I couldn't warm even to Albert Finney, a perennial favorite. My big problem, however, was with the movie's use of violence and its connection to messages about manhood. (Spoilers) Part of the plot keys on the fact that the main character, Tom, doesn't commit a murder he's supposed to. In fact, he shows a spark of humanity and is merciful to a man begging for his life. For the rest of the movie, Bernie, the reprieved man, is able to taunt Tom with his "weakness," his unmanliness in showing mercy. In the end, when he kills Bernie, Tom vindicates his manhood. So the movie portrays the ability to kill without mercy as the sign of true manhood; the ability to show even a spark of common humanity is a weakness. This is a chilling message about what makes a real man, and what doesn't. It was boys with this kind of attitude who committed the massacre at Columbine. That is the price we pay for our society's worship of violence, and Hollywood's love affair with it.
Rating:
Summary: The Coens' best, and the genre's
Review: My Top Five Movies list is constantly changing, but Miller's Crossing has never fallen off. It is very nearly a perfect film. At this point, the gangster genre is completely hackneyed, but somehow the entire movie feels fresh and vital. Everything -- the characters, dialogue, acting, cinematography, direction -- is highly stylized and lovingly deliberate. Every shot would make a good framed photo, and every line of dialogue is quotable. Yes, everything here has been done before, but the brilliance of Miller's Crossing is that it distills, with obvious love, playful intelligence, and stunning talent, the essence of the genre. You must see this movie.
Rating: 
Summary: Twists a Plenty
Review: Since so many people have reviewed Miller's I'll keep mine short. The movie is great. It keeps you totally wrapped up in the plot and you can't wait to see what happens next. The cahracters are all well developed and teh dialoue is fast and snappy. WAy up to standard Coehn Bro. fare. Like a mixture of Fargo and Barton Fink. Does contain gore, but not to graphic. you Definately need to be accepting of movie violence though. Excellent movie. Made me wish i was a mafia crime Lord. Kidding, jsut kidding...or am I?
Rating:
Summary: My favorite movie of all time
Review: Everyone above agrees that this movie is the Coen's best. The pacing is better than with Fargo, the humor darker than Raising Arizona. What is missed in those reviews is how absolutely hilarious this film is. Tom Reagan waking up drunk, looking for his hat, asking how his night went. The reply from his bartender pal? "What do you think? You're a millionaire. You gonna remember your friends?" While drinking, toasts are often made "to Volsteadt", a reference to the Volsteadt Act that provided the legal teeth to Prohibition. As usual, the detail that the Coen's go into is exsquisite. The cinematography is beautiful that it seems like a too-rich desert: so sweet as to almost be too much, but you eat it all anyway. The acting performances are incredible up and down the bill. There is only one drawback to this movie if you have never seen it before. As they often do, the Coen brothers make extensive use of dialects, something they did to wonderful effect in Fargo. Many of the characters in Miller's Crossing have thick accents that disguise the tightly-written plot and dark asides. After a little effort, though, the beauty of this film opens up like the nose of a fine Bordeaux, until all the mysteries are revealed. This is the one film I have found that could beat out Casablanca and Citizen Kane on my personal lists of favorites.
Rating:
Summary: Nothing is as it seems, nor is it otherwise
Review: If you've ever had to play second fiddle to any powerful boss you'll recognize yourself in the character Garbriel Byrne plays from the first scene. Albert Finney is a prohibition era rackett boss who, while negotiating with a peaceful rival, begins the film by making "a bonehead play" in the words of his number two guy Byrne who then spends the rest of the picture double crossing his way through the underworld to get Finney, who we learn is motivated by a new girlfriend to make these uncharacteristic bad decisions, out of the jam in which he has put himself. Great commentary on corrupt politics and loyalty.
Rating:
Summary: One more five-star review can't hurt
Review: The Coen brothers are my favorite filmmakers, and this is their best film. It has great shots, great plot, great dialogue, great acting, and a great score. I get chills every time I hear certain lines of dialogue, or see certain camera angles. As one reviewer noted, it's not really appropriate to call it the best film ever, but it certainly is my favorite. I don't have time to write the 5000-word treatment that this movie's complexities deserve, so I'll just say: watch it. Watch it many times. You won't be sorry, unless you don't like movies that make you listen and make you think.
Rating:
Summary: THE THINKING MAN'S MOB MOVIE
Review: Most people will let the titles "GOODFELLAS", "THE GODFATHER (I & II)", "ONCE UPON A TIME IN AMERICA" and "THE UNTOUCHABLES" roll off their tongues when asked what their favorite movie is in the "mob" genre. Although seldom mentioned, "MILLER'S CROSSING" must take its rightful place alongside the above as one of the definitive treatments of gangster dynamics in American Cinema. I like to call it "The Thinking Man's Mob Movie" because it's a film that requires one to really focus on the action and dialog and not merely sit back in a lounger without attention span and wait for kill. These characters are multi-faceted, the plot is complex and the payoff for the viewer is delivered through outstanding cinematography (perhaps the Coen's best!) and skillful pacing. Coupling their usual stable of actors (Turturro, Buscemi, Polito) with veteran thespo Albert Finney, the exquisitely laconic Gabriel Byrne, and femme-semi-fatale Marcia Gay Harden, the Coen Brothers have assembled a truly great ensemble cast that transcends the brutality and authenticity of the era. Sure, there's great kill! In the good gangster pictures, violence is actually a character unto itself, always lurking in the background until called upon to make a point. In "MILLER'S CROSSING", the Coen Brothers seem to downplay the actual mechanical violence by isolating the factors and sequences that are responsible for it. Betrayal and revenge are important themes in this film. The crisp writing makes the conversation between characters appear effortless and uncontrived. There's a certain casuality in the dialog that belies the Coen's alarmingly accurate renderings of gangland execution. Finally, the enjoyment one derives from viewing "MILLER'S CROSSING" is not related to how much he/she understands the action or knows about the mob lifestyle, but to the appreciation of the filmmaker's art in communicating the brutality and fraternity of these individuals with astonishing beauty and precision.
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