The Best ’90s Mobster Movie Being Kept Away From Modern Audiences
In 1990, the Coen brothers had two successful films under their belt when they began to produce what many regard as one of the greatest mobster movies of all time. Miller’s Crossing transported audiences to an unnamed city in 1929 to see an Irish mobster pit two mob bosses against each other and the deaths that follow his path to survival. A classic by all accounts, Miller’s Crossing has been a complicated film to catch on streaming services, leading many new audiences away from it.
The Premise
Miller’s Crossing follows mob enforcer Tom Reagan (Gabriel Byrne) who becomes caught between political boss Leo O’Bannon (Albert Finney) and Italian mafia leader Johnny Caspar (Jon Polito).
Leo’s girlfriend Verna (Marcia Gay Harden) arranges for him to give protection to her brother Bernie Bernbaum (John Turturro) after Caspar has caught him skimming money from his gambling racket. But after Tom admits to his boss that he and Verna have been secretly seeing each other, Leo gives Tom the beating of a lifetime and turns him out.
Miller’s Crossing
Tom uses the beating as an excuse to visit Caspar and pledge his loyalty to his former boss’s rival. To test him, Caspar has Tom take Bernie out to a wooded area known as Miller’s Crossing to execute him. Tom relents at the last moment and sends Bernie packing with the threat of death should he ever return.
As Tom is brought into the fold of Caspar’s organized crime family, he is at odds with the lead enforcer, Eddie Dane (J. E. Freeman). This rivalry sets off a series of events that take Tom back to Miller’s Crossing to somehow prove that he killed Bernie.
The Cast
Miller’s Crossing allowed the Coen brothers to give audiences a film that’s a pure crime drama, taking them back to their filmmaking roots reminiscent of their 1984 debut Blood Simple.
Their third film followed the zany comedy Raising Arizona (1987) and was absent of the latter work’s humor. But the Coen brothers pulled out all the stops with an intricate plot line and complex characters that are two of the markers for a solid mobster movie.
Helping Miller’s Crossing win critical acclaim was the high level of acting by Gabriel Byrne and Albert Finney. John Turturro plays the role of the weaselly Bernie Bernbaum like it was written specifically for him.
Rounding out the star-studded cast that helped to elevate the film were great performances by Jon Polito, Steve Buscemi, and Marcia Gay Harden.
A Financial Failure
Miller’s Crossing received critical accolades upon its theatrical release in 1990, lauded as one of the greatest mobster movies of all time. But the influx of genre films that year, notably The Godfather III and Goodfellas, forced this gem off the radar of many theatergoers. The result was an utter box office bomb as the Coen brothers only managed to generate $5 million in ticket sales over a budget that was nearly $15 million.
Watch It However You Can
Miller’s Crossing was released on VHS in 1991 and subsequent physical media releases on DVD and Blu-ray built a strong following for the film over time. Since the early 1990s, cable channels aired the movie and furthered its reach with audiences that were denied seeing it in its limited theatrical run.
In 2022, Miller’s Crossing was released on Blu-ray as part of the Criterion Collection. Though two minutes shorter than the theatrical version, this physical medium is the easiest way to see it and the disc comes loaded with great bonus features.
While it’s not currently streaming on any subscription services, you can rent or buy Miller’s Crossing from online merchants like Fandango, Amazon, and Apple.
