Miller's Crossing [HD]

A superbly crafted gangster film.
Yes, FARGO won lots of awards, and sure, RAISING ARIZONA isuproariously funny, but make no mistake: MILLER'S CROSSING is thequintessential Coen brothers film. In point of fact, it's flawless, a jewel you can turn over and around in your hands again and again, seeing a new facet every time, each one striking and smooth and perfect.

The script is awash with Prohibition-era jargon both historically grounded and whimsically invented, a symphony of phrases and exchanges that linger and echo long after being heard. (It isn't unusual after a viewing to walk around asking friends, "What's the rumpus?", or to complain about being given "the high hat" upon being snubbed.)

The performances, as well, are individually and collectively irresistable. I defy you, in fact, to find a single film in which _any_ of the major players has ever been better. There's not a false or miscast note in the whole of the dramatis personae. There's Gabriel Byrne as the inscrutable,...

THE THINKING MAN'S MOB MOVIE
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,...

What Hat?
As it's chilly performances and aloof style put the audience at a distance, it's hard to see the first time through what a brilliant film this picture is; but repeated veiwings have only cemented my opinion--Miller's Crossing is the finest American film since Raging Bull.

I think the key to my love for Miller's, though, is realizing what what I believe the dream-hat meant (I'm sure this will be obvious to some, especially those that have watched a number of times, but I just want to throw this out there for folks that have seen it, but don't know what all the hubbub is about--because certainly, that's how I felt when I first saw it).

Whether people wear hats or not in the film seems to represent whether they are acting out of passion-from the heart, that is, or out of mind--thinking logically, or unemotionally.

Tom's conflict in the film is entirely between his head and his heart(Verna). He loses his hat to Verna in a poker game, and he goes back to her apartment...

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