Friday, January 17, 2003

Best Scene From A Movie You Have Probably Never Seen This is perhaps the best scene from Miller's Crossing, a movie crammed with great scenes, and firmly lodged into my top ten films of all time.  I've always loved gangster movies, yet this is one that while it seems to follow the rules of the genre, it also makes up a few of its own with its invented slang, perverse relationships, and a strong female lead.  Here's what Amazon.com has to say about it: Arguably the best film by Joel and Ethan Coen, the 1990 Miller's Crossing stars Gabriel Byrne as Tom, a loyal lieutenant of a crime boss named Leo (Albert Finney) who is in a Prohibition-era turf war with his major rival, Johnny Caspar (Jon Polito). A man of principle, Tom nevertheless is romantically involved with Leo's lover (Marcia Gay Harden), whose screwy brother (John Turturro) escapes a hit ordered by Caspar only to become Tom's problem. Making matters worse, Tom has outstanding gambling debts he can't pay, which keeps him in regular touch with a punishing enforcer. With all the energy the Coens put into their films, and all their focused appreciation of genre conventions and rules, and all their efforts to turn their movies into ironic appreciations of archetypes in American fiction, they never got their formula so right as with Miller's Crossing. With its Hammett-like dialogue and Byzantine plot and moral chaos mitigated by one hero's personal code, the film so transcends its self-scrutiny as a retro-crime thriller that it is a deserved classic in its own right. --Tom Keogh          Scene 23.  HALLWAY (We are shooting over Tom's shoulder as he knocks at the door to Verna's apartment.  After a beat, Verna opens the door. On seeing who it is she starts to swing the door shut. Tom puts his toe in the doorway and leans into the door.   As he pushes his way in:) Tom: Thanks, don't mind if I do.    Scene 24.  INT   APARTMENT (As Verna gives up and Tom enters. Verna walks over to the phone.  As she dials, Tom tosses his hat onto a chair and checks the apartment to see if they're alone.)   Verna: Hello, officer, I'd like to report an intruder at 346 West-- (Tom grabs the phone away from her.) Tom: Who's this?. . . 'Lo, Shad, Tom Reagan here. We won't be needing any today. Yeah, my mother.  She didn't recognize me.  Lemme talk to Mulvaney. (He takes a flask out of his packet and looks across the room towards Verna.)  . . . Miss me? Verna:   Drop dead. (We hear a voice barking through the line and Tom turns back to the phone.) Tom:   . . . 'Lo Sean, tell O'Dell to get a car over to Leo's tonight.  If we're going to be banging away at Caspar we ought to be ready for him to bang  back.  (He hangs up the phone and tips the flask back, draining the last drop.) Verna:   What do you want? (Tom is crossing to the bar.) Tom:   I was in the neighborhood, feeling a bit daffy.  So I thought I'd drop in for an apperitif. (He pours himself a drink.) . . . Rug Daniels is dead. Verna:  Gee, that's tough.  Tom:  Don't get hysterical.  I've had enough excitement for one night without a dame going all weepy on me. Verna:  I barely knew the gentleman. Tom:  Rug?  Bit of a shakedown artist.  Not above the occasional grift, but you'd understand that.  All in all not a bad guy, if looks, brains and personality don't count. Verna:   You better hope they don't. (He gives her a sick grin.) Tom:  Yeah well, we're none of us the saint I hear your brother is. Verna:  Who killed him? Tom:  Leo thinks Caspar did. Verna:  But you know better. Tom:  I do now.  You see Caspar just tried to buy me into settling his tiff with Leo, which he’d hardly do if he was waging war.  So I figure you killed him, Angel.  You or Saint Bernard. Verna:  Why would I--or my brother--kill Rug Daniels or anybody else? Tom:  Rug was following you.  He knew about you and me.  That wouldn't help your play with Leo, would it? (He looks at her.  She holds his gaze.) Verna:  You think I murdered someone.  Come on, Tom, you  know me a little. Tom:  Nobody knows anybody--not that well. Verna:  You know or you wouldn't be here. Tom:  Not at all, sugar.  I came to hear your side of the story--how horrible Rug was, how he goaded you into it, how he tried to shake you down-- Verna:  That's not why you came either. Tom:  Tell me why I came. Verna:  The oldest reason there is. Tom:  There are friendlier places to drink. Verna:  Why can't you admit it? Tom:  Admit what? Verna:  Admit you don't like me seeing Lee because you're jealous.  Admit that you've got a heart--even if it's small and feeble and you can't remember the last time you used it. Tom:  If I'd known we were going to cast our feelings into words I'd have memorized the Song of Solomon. (Verna smiles.) Verna:  Maybe that's why I like you, Tom.  I've never met anyone made being a son of a bitch such a point of pride. (She turns to walk across the room.) . . . Though one day you'll pay a price for it. (Tom grabs her wrist.) Tom:  Okay, Verna.  But until then, let's get stinko. (He draws her close.) Verna:  Let's do something else first. (She reaches up, takes off his hat, and tosses it casually away.  We pan with the hat to where it lands on the floor, in front of a curtained window.) Tom:  Yeah.  Let's do plenty. 6:39:15 PM     |

© Copyright 2005 Alex L. Mauldin.