Cinema
Miller's Crossing
Joel Coen and Ethan Coen · 1990
Synopsis
1929, under Prohibition, in a never-named American city. Tom Reagan is the adviser to Leo, an Irish political boss who deals with the mayor and the chief of police; he loses at the races, owes money to his bookmaker and refuses to let Leo pay his debts. Johnny Caspar, a rival Italian boss, demands the death of Bernie Bernbaum, a bookmaker who rigs his bets on fixed fights. Leo refuses, because Bernie is the brother of Verna, his mistress, and a war begins; Tom, who is secretly having an affair with Verna, urges Leo to give in.
Context
The two brothers, who usually write quickly, took between eight months and a year to write this script according to accounts, and broke off to write another screenplay in three weeks, about a writer who can no longer write. Trey Wilson, intended for the role of Leo, died shortly before shooting and was replaced by the Englishman Albert Finney. The film was shot in New Orleans on a budget of ten to fourteen million dollars and earned only about five million in the United States.
Who it is for
A film of one hour fifty-five minutes, with a dense plot, in which the alliances between gangs often change from one scene to the next.
Prizes and reception
Critical reception was divided on its release and it failed at the box office, then came a reappraisal: in 2005 Time magazine counted it among the hundred best films.
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