DVD Watch: Miller's Crossing

Of all the Cohen movies, Miller's Crossing is still my favorite. It's not as well known (or quirky) as Fargo and it lacks the production values of O Brother, but it's simply genius scriptwriting. It's a noir film with a great Cohen feel to it - gritty, a little whimsical and engaging.

It perhaps might be enough for the dialogue to drip with slang, quips, one liners and comebacks. Crossing revels in all of these but also just hits hard with brilliant subtlety. When Tommy is trying to convince Leo for the last time to drop his gang war without giving up his reasons why - you suddenly see the desperation that he hides for most of the movie. As fun as the dialogue can be - the fact that the plot moves at such a quick pace based mostly on conversations with the main character is impressive enough that anyone with an interest in writing should watch this movie. Repeatedly.

Still, the movie proves that the only appropriate response to "the oldest reason in the world" is that "there are friendlier places to drink."

Highly recommend. If you like it, I'd also recommend Brick ... noir done right in a high school setting.



tagged: movies