Released in the same year as Goodfellas, and disappearing fast as a result, the difficult prohibition-era noir deserves a fresh analysis
When Miller’s Crossing was released 30 years ago, there emerged two competing camps on the Coen brothers, who had previously written and directed the stylish 1984 neo-noir Blood Simple and the deliriously farcical 1987
comedy Raising
Arizona. They were either genre craftsmen of boundless range and impeccable wit and craft, or glib, soulless pastiche artists who condescended to their characters, and to the audience at large. Though consensus has swung hard in the Coens’ direction over the years – albeit not on ranked lists, which is still the surest route to an argument on
Social Media – their work is still so fussily calibrated that it can hard to tell where the heart lies.
Related: Goodfellas at 30: Martin Scorsese's damning study of masculinity