Miller's Crossing

Rating:
Summary: Dashiell Hammett Has Never Been Done Better
Review: Miller's Crossing is the most skillful and affectionate film ever based on the novels of Dashiell Hammett. The plot is roughly a cross between Hammett novels The Glass Key and Red Harvest, though it's in adapting the latter that the Coen's really hit their peak. Red Harvest was also the inspiration behind such fine films as Kurosawa's Yojimbo, Leone's A Fistful of Dollars and Walter Miller's Last Man Standing, but it's never been done better than here. (One wonders when the novel will be adapted under its own name.) This is perhaps the most violent story ever filmed and yet also the most ingenious: A town is run by two rival gangs and one man, in this case Gabriel Byrne, cleverly makes them destroy one another. The performances are inspired, especially the brilliant John Turturro as a very loose cannon. The scene where Byrne is led to his own death under a canopy of trees is one of the greatest moments ever filmed and is very nicely foreshadowed under the credits. If you like gangster movies and you've already seen the first two Godfather flicks, this is unquestionably the one to see.