Miller's Crossing (1990)

Miller’s Crossing: Directed by Joel Coen, Ethan Coen. With Gabriel Byrne, Marcia Gay Harden, John Turturro, Jon Polito. Tom Reagan, an advisor to a Prohibition-era crime boss, tries to keep the peace between warring mobs but gets caught in divided loyalties.

“I was blown away by this film the first time I saw it. After giving myself a couple hours to shake off my dumbfounding amazement, I became addicted. This film has everything. Itu0026#39;s witty in its dialogue, suspenseful in its action and violence, beautiful in its cinematography, and (being so like the Coen brothers) it can make you laugh and cringe in the same scene.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eThe script is superb. The characters are absorbing and the dialogue (as some reviewers have already observed) flows like words in a book. You have to watch some scenes more than once to totally get whatu0026#39;s going on, and even then you still might miss something.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eThe acting is top-notch, even down to the lowest thug. Gabriel Byrne plays the antihero Tom to lonely perfection and Marcia Gay Hardenu0026#39;s hooker without a golden heart is excellent. The rest of the cast is great as well, including good mobster Albert Finney and a funny cameo by Steven Buscemi. However, the show is stolen threefold by Jon Polito as the erratic Italian underboss Johnny Caspar, John Tuturro as the slimy u0026quot;schmattau0026quot; Bernie Bernbaum and J.E. Freeman as Casparu0026#39;s dark, vicious adviser/thug Eddie Dane. Jon Politou0026#39;s monologue in the very beginning on ethics and Tuturrou0026#39;s desperate pleas at Milleru0026#39;s Crossing are both powerful scenes, and Freeman commands the screen whenever he is on.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eMy rating is a 10/10. The best part about this movie is that it gets better and better every time you watch it. Oh yeah…the Danny Boy scene is reason enough to watch this movie anyway.”