The Coen Brothers' Miller's Crossing (1990)

Working in such a derth of disparate genres, it’d be more than acceptable if the Coen Brothers produced a few flops – artistically as opposed to financially since we all know that good movies don’t always make money. While it could be argued that neither of the Brothers’ first two features – Blood Simple or Raising Arizona – were successful in ways that later fair would be, most should figure that Miller’s Crossing marked the duo’s first complete (artistic) success. I think the film lost a few million bucks. But hey, after watching the movie, it was worth it.

The field of noir, especially by 1990 when the film was shot, had really not been too active apart from occasional references to its heyday in various gangster movies. But even those referential features didn’t make use of innumerable tropes associated with the genre. Every recent gangster movie had been rendered flatly, even if the violence seemed to be getting ratcheted up. Perhaps directors figured that it was an even trade.

The Coen Brothers, though, included some of the most gruesome shootings in recent memory while being able to craft a feature that possessed a few intriguing and unique cultural trappings. Some have figured the film for a Dashiell Hammett rip off – and it might be to a certain extent. But even after watching the hour and fifty some odd minutes of Miller’s Crossing, the language and its vernacular was clearly derived from two brothers sitting around, trying to figure out a narrative.

Phrases like “the high hat” (getting blown off) or “let’s dangle” (let’s get outta here) might not have been cribbed from actual speech dating to the period during which the film is supposed to take place, but points to the fervor with which the Coen’s sought to create a life like, insular world. There’re numerous references to leaving town – whatever town it may be. And while John Turturro’s character should have split, it seems that he can’t. No one can even if your life depends on it.

Beyond the pair’s ability to craft some incredible dialogue, which reaches through to just about every film they’ve worked on, the Coen’s understood that working in the ‘90s and making a gangster film necessitated at least a few bloody scenes. While Leo, the town’s Irish mob boss, sits around in bed listening to a record and reading the day’s paper, two rival gang members come strolling into his home, prepared to gun him down.

Leo rolls underneath the bed, using it as a shield, and proceeds to shoot one gunman in the knee, felling him to the ground. The crown of this would-be assassin’s head is pointed towards the camera – Leo’s point of view – and then viewers are granted a glimpse of the man’s head being penetrated by a bullet at point blank range. Gruesome stuff – and we haven’t even gotten to the corpse in the woods yet.

No matter how authentic it was all intended to be there’ll still be detractors and inconsistencies. But folks will be hard pressed to find another gangster movie related in such calm hues and understated tones.