Miller's Crossing review

Mobster pictures are somewhat of a staple of American pop culture and have been for a while now. Everything from the original Scarface to The Godfather to The Sopranos. Directors like Martin Scorsese and Brian De Palma have forged half of their careers off of gangster flicks. Something about the fast and violent lifestyle of the mafia has captured our imagination. Some of the greatest films ever made are gangster movies. And there are so many of them! You'd think after all this time one would grow tired of the genre. If you would think that, you'd be wrong. Truth be told, I really love mob films. Some of my all-time favorite movies (Goodfellas, The Godfather, The Departed, Casino, Scarface) are about the gang life. Done right, a mafia picture can be not only entertaining but have something profound to say about greed and morality and such. If done right, a mafia picture can look something like Miller's Crossing. Joel and Ethan Coen's 1990 film Miller's Crossing is about Tom Regan (Gabriel Byrne), an adviser to an Irish crime boss (Albert Finney). Tom is whip smart and incredibly cynical, almost an embodiment of The Coen Brothers themselves. The film follows Tom as he navigates the tricky crime landscape of the Irish and Italian mafia by playing both sides against each other. The film's narrative is very plotty and under less talented hands it could turn into a convoluted mess. With The Coen Brothers, they manage to craft one of the most entertaining and gloriously well-made gangster movies I've seen in a long time. Practically everything about this film is impeccable. My only real complaint is that the second half of the film didn't resonate with me as much as the first half. It drops off a bit, but other than that it's absolute gold. Probably my favorite thing about Miller's Crossing is the dialogue. Why this film didn't get a best screenplay nomination at the Oscars I do not know. It certainly deserves one. Every line is as sharp as a surgeon's scalpel. Every conversation goes at a machine gun rate. It's high quality stuff. A screenplay would be almost useless without decent actors to deliver the great lines. Gabriel Byrne is pretty solid here as the main character. He carries out his character's cynicism and wit pretty well, but I feel it could have been done a bit better. Albert Finney is superb as the head mob boss, Leo. Finney really underplays his character. It's a subtle performance, but it absolutely works in every way. The guy who really shines here is John Turturro. I've always known Turturro to be a good actor form seeing him in films like Do The Right Thing and The Big Lebowski (which is my personal favorite Coen Bros. flick). He's phenomenal here. The guy has a relatively small role, but boy does he play it well. Turturro's character is a real slick guy. He's a schemer and kind of an (if you'll excuse my language) asshole. But you can't help but like him. You want him dead yet, at the same time you kind of want to watch him a little bit more. Some actors could make the role insufferably annoying or even dull, depending. Turturro makes him funny and interesting. That takes talent. But this is The Coen's film, and they don't let you forget it. Miller's Crossing is stuffed with classic Coen trademarks. Dark humor, irony, noir lighting, femme fatale characters, swift direction. It has all the marks of a Coen Brothers movie, but it's 100% fresh and original. They don't just do what they've done before. They take an age old genre and morph it into something completely new. Something wonderful. A classic. I think it's safe to say I'm in love with Miller's Crossing. No, it's not The Coen Brothers' best film. No, it's not the best mobster film ever made. Yes, it is a really great film. I'm a pretty big fan of the Coen's, and they've yet to prove they're anything but genius. Miller's Crossing is a genius movie. Well directed, smartly written, and terrifically acted I can definitely recommend you watch it. Hell, watch it twice. I know I will. Happy Viewing folks.
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Goodfellas review

Is it bad if you prefer this to The Godfather? I'm asking for a friend. 

Watching The Wolf of Wall Street reminded me of how much I love Martin Scorsese. Over the summer, I went on a Scorsese kick and watched a lot of his films. Even his lesser known and more obscure stuff like Who's That Knocking at My Door and After Hours. The movie everyone talks about when they talk about Martin Scorsese is Goodfellas. It's a film I saw a while back and loved, but for some strange reason, have never returned to. Well, recently I picked up a copy on DVD. Let's just say I will be returning to it a lot in the future. Goodfellas is about Henry Hill (Ray Liotta). As he says in the beginning, "As far back as I can remember, I always wanted to be a gangster. To me, being a gangster was better than being President of the United States." Hill grew up with the gang. He got an after school job at the cab stand, doing deliveries and occasionally blowing up cars. He loved it. Hill grows up to be a respected figure in the Italian mob. This isn't a Scarface rise-and-fall story though. Henry never gets to be a boss or a big name in organized crime. But he does have a very interesting story to tell. With the help of Martin Scorsese, it is told remarkably well. Back in 1990, when this came out, it lost to Dances with Wolves in the Oscars. Now it's considered a classic and arguably Scorsese's best film to date. And it's considered that for good reason! Goodfellas does so many things right, and is a blast to watch. Citizen Kane may have been important and had some revolutionary camera angles, but is the story all that great? And is it really all that exciting to watch? Didn't think so. Goodfellas is a masterpiece in filmmaking, and also truly entertaining. Scorsese's signature use of the constantly moving camera is not only used very well here, but incredibly appropriate for the movie. The life of a gangster is fast and constantly on the move. Perform a hits, make money, sell drugs, go to jail, repeat. It's a violent and exciting lifestyle, with it's own twists, and turns. The film reflects that well. Scorsese collaborated with Nicholas Pileggi (who wrote the book on which this is based) to write the screenplay. I'm not sure why Scorsese doesn't write his scripts anymore, because they were damn good. The dialog here flows really well, it's a lot harder then you'd think to write dialog that flows as well as this does. The actors certainly help deliver the dialog too. Ray Liotta gives what was probably his best performance as Henry Hill and did quite a good job. He falters occasionally but the rest of the time he's golden. Robert De Niro is playing a part that nowadays would be considered a cliche Robert De Niro role. But he does it so well. It's a shame De Niro has to be in stuff like Little Fockers now when he used to be the Oscar bait star that he was. Lorraine Bracco gives a great (and Oscar nominated) performance as Hill's wife, Karen. She plays her part of head over heels in love in the beginning, and quickly transitions to coke addicted and jealous wife towards the end. Her role here is probably how she got on The Sopranos. The best performance here is obviously Joe Pesci, as the insane gangster, Tommy DeVito. While Pesci never really proved himself in other films, here he's absolutely nuts! And he makes it work beautifully! It's no wonder he was awarded an Oscar for his role. Although this should have won Best Picture before anything else. I don't know if this is my favorite film, but it very well might be. The directing, soundtrack, editing, acting, and everything else about this make it just so great. I doubt my review can do this any justice. If you haven't seen this yet, you are crazy and are missing out! Goodfellas is fantastic and Martin Scorsese is a genius. That's all there is too it. Happy Viewing. If you want to keep up with my reviews and other movie related things, follow me on Twitter @WhitsMovies and like me on Facebook at Facebook.com/WhitsMovies.