During the Prohibition Era, a man's loyalty is tested when he finds himself between two rival gangs.
Joel and Ethan Coen made a splash on the American independent film scene with their noir debut Blood Simple, followed by the now-cult comedy Raising Arizona. For their third film, the brothers made a significant left turn with a period setting and a much more sophisticated visual approach. The story's main influence comes from the writer Dashiell Hammett (best known for his novel The Maltese Falcon), specifically the stories The Glass Key and Red Harvest.
Starring in the film are Irish actor Gabriel Byrne and British veteran Albert Finney, as well as John Turturro (fresh off Spike Lee's Do The Right Thing), Steve Buscemi, and Jon Polito, who would all become frequent Coens collaborators. The main female role is played by Marcia Gay Harden (Pollock, Mystic River).
The Coens worked for the third time with cinematographer Barry Sonnenfeld, who after this film would embark on his own successful career as a director. Also joining the Coens again is music composer Carter Burwell, who gives the score a distinct Irish flavor.
While this film is darker and drier than the slapstick Raising Arizona, the dialogue is peppered with period slang and the Coens' own brand of memorable dialogue. The story's plotting became so intricate that at one point the brothers suffered from major writer's block, and on a short hiatus completed the entire screenplay for their next film (Barton Fink) before returning to finish Miller's Crossing.
Miller's Crossing, despite healthy promotion from the studio and good reviews, did not fare well at the box office. Since then, it has built a strong reputation and is now regarded as one of the great modern crime films and one of the Coens' best works.
Running time is approx. 2 hrs.
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