The third collaboration between Joel and Ethan Coen, 1990’s Miller’s Crossing is perhaps the most realist, the least fantastic, of any film they’ve made. Gabriel Byrne stars as the “bright young boy”/right hand to political/crime boss Albert Finney (who sports an odd reddish blonde ‘do for his part). Getting in between them are Marcia Gay Harden as a grifter with her eye on the prize and Jon Polito (Homicide: Life on the Streets) as a rival fed up with the situation.
When I saw this on the program grid I figured the time had finally come to grab the chance and see it; after all, I’ve been hearing great things about for years and usuallyoften enjoy the Coen Brothers’ work. But while Byrne and Gay Harden were pretty good, the visual were very moody and well-suited, the movie as a whole didn’t really strike me as highest level.
Good, mind you, just not great. My biggest issue, as it so often is, concerns the dramatic tension and the lack thereof. There are plot twists and clever transitions but the last act doesn’t ratchet up tight enough to really kick things over the top.
recommended
BillSaysThis 