I finally got around to seeing "Miller's Crossing" last night after repeated hearing its praises from other critics. I certainly enjoyed the film, but it didn't near meet my expectations or the many 5 star ratings that I've seen on it. This is one of the Coen Brother's ("Fargo," "Raising Arizona," "Blood Simple") first films, but unlike the opinion of many, this is certainly not their best. With "Miller's Crossing," the brothers did not create near as interesting characters or as beautiful a story that they did with their most recent hit, "Fargo."
Perhaps the main aspect that upset me about the film was that so much of the dialogue, and there's certainly a lot of it, deals with characters that we haven't met yet. When this type of dialogue is instituted, it is necessary to do it in a way that is understandable to the audience without disenfranchising the viewer. The Coen Brother's did not accomplish this feat because we hear so much about so many characters we haven't been introduced to yet, that we get confused and thus less interested in where the story is going.
But please don't get me wrong here, this IS a good film, just not as good as it is often made out to be. The characters are certainly interesting, and once we meet them, they are generally well-defined. All the acting is top-notch, especially by the always pleasant Gabriel Byrne ("Stigmata," "The Usual Suspects") as Tom Reagan, an associate to Leo (Albert Finney), one of this crime-ridden town's political bosses. The story is complex and well-crafted - the only complaint here is that it often tries to outdo itself with too much over the top dialogue. One particular seen that comes to mind is when Bernie (John Turturro) pleads for his life in a speech that continues long after his points have been made and is just way too exaggerated.
This film is worth the rental, just be ready to take notes from the first seen on so you can keep track of all the characters.
I'd give this film 3.5/5, but since I can't, I'll round it up to 4/5.
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