Plot

Tom Reagan, an advisor to a Prohibition-era crime boss, tries to keep the peace between warring mobs but gets caught in divided loyalties.

Tom Reagan (played by Gabriel Byrne) is the right-hand man, and chief adviser, to a mob boss, Leo (Albert Finney). Trouble is brewing between Leo and another mob boss, Johnny Caspar (Jon Polito), over the activities of a bookie, Bernie Bernbaum (John Turturro) and Leo and Tom are at odds on how to deal with it. Meanwhile, Tom is in a secret relationship with Leo's girlfriend, Verna (Marcia Gay Harden), who happens to be the sister of Bernie. In trying to resolve the issue, Tom is cast out from Leo's camp and ultimately finds himself stuck in the middle between several deadly, unforgiving parties.—grantss

A highly styled 'genre' film which can perhaps be seen as a pastiche of all gangster movies. Tom Reagan is the laconic anti-hero of this amoral tale which is also, paradoxically, a look at morals within the criminal underworld of the 1930s. Two rival gangs vie for control of a city where the police are pawns, and the periodic busts of illicit drinking establishments are no more than a way for one gang to get back at the other. Black humour and shocking violence compete for screen time as we question whether or not Tom, right-hand man of the Irish mob leader, really has a heart.—<morry@argonet.co.uk>

It's Prohibition era 1930s as gang wars tear apart the city of gang lord Leo and his lieutenant Tom Regan. Tom is upset when Leo declines underling Johnny Caspar's request to kill the crooked Bernie. Despite Tom's objections, Leo thinks he made the right decision because Bernie is Verna's brother and Verna is Leo's girl. Unfortunately, Caspar seems to be growing in power and just when Leo needs Tom's help most Tom admits he's been fooling around with Verna. Tom is thrown out of Leo's mob and with nothing else to do he decides to join Caspar. But Tom is also talking to Bernie and Verna, and Caspar's ruthless henchman Eddie Dane starts to get suspicious. His suspicions rise when Tom is ordered to kill Bernie himself, but no one knows whether or not Tom carried out the order. Leaving Caspar searching for his desired power, Dane searching for answers, Verna searching for her brother and Tom searching for his own heart... if he has one anymore.—Monte_Man167

Tom Regan is an advisor to Leo, a crime boss in an unnamed Prohibition-era town. When Leo and rival boss Johnny Caspar feud over a bookie who's been cheating Caspar, Tom tries to keep the peace. Instead he finds himself caught in the middle of a war of ambushes and shifting allegiances where nothing is ever quite what it seems.—Scott Renshaw <as.idc@forsythe.stanford.edu>

Synopsis by "Cult Movies" author Danny Peary...

Aging Irishman Leo (Albert Finney) runs an unnamed eastern city during Prohibition. Leo's chief adviser - and the only man he trusts - is the intelligent, nonviolent Tommy (Gabriel Byrne). Leo controls the mayor and the chief of police. However, the Italian Johnny Caspar (Jon Polito) - whose chief henchman is the brutal, bisexual Eddie Dane (J.E. Freeman) - is becoming a threat to Leo's supremacy. Caspar tells Leo that he wants the unlikeable "Bernie" Bernbaum killed, because Bernie has been cutting into Caspar's gambling profits by selling information about fixed fights to betters. But Leo refuses to allow this because Bernie is the brother of Leo's tough mistress Verna (Marcia Gay Harden). Tommy tells Leo to allow Bernie's murder, because Verna isn't worth their going to war with Caspar. Tommy, fearing Leo's life is in danger, confesses to him that he also has been sleeping with Verna. Leo beats Tommy up and kicks him out of his organization. Caspar becomes the major power in town, taking control of the mayor and chief of police. Much to Dane's chagrin, Caspar recruits Tommy into their operation. Tommy must prove his loyalty by killing Bernie in the wilderness, at Miller's Crossing (hence the title of the movie). He allows the pleading Bernie to live, on the condition that no one finds out Bernie's still alive. Dane doesn't believe Tommy killed Bernie, so he takes him back to Miller's Crossing with the intention of finding Bernie's body. A body is there, with its face shot in. Bernie has murdered Dane's male lover, Mink - but Dane can't recognize the corpse. Bernie blackmails Tommy by saying he'll come out into the open unless Tommy helps him kill Caspar. Tommy convinces Caspar that Dane and Mink - whom Caspar thinks is still alive - are secretly selling information about Caspar's fixed fights. Before Dane can kill Tommy, Caspar brutally kills Dane. Tommy maneuvers Caspar to rendezvous with Mink; instead Caspar finds Bernie, who kills him. Tommy tells Bernie that they'll blame the murder on Dane, whom Bernie thinks is still alive. Tommy takes Bernie's gun, supposedly to hide the evidence. But then Tommy reveals that Dane is dead and, in revenge for being blackmailed, points Bernie's own gun at him. Bernie again pleads for his life, thinking Tommy hasn't got what it takes to kill anyone. Tommy blasts him between the eyes. Leo marries Verna and invites Tommy to work for him again, but Tommy turns him down.

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In the opening scene, an Italian gangster named Johnny Caspar is meeting with Leo O'Bannon, the city's most powerful gangster. Caspar, with his most trusted adviser and bodyguard, the fearsome Eddie "The Dane" Dane in tow, talks to Leo about a Jewish grifter named Bernie Bernbaum, who's been selling information on boxing matches that Caspar has been "fixing". Caspar wants to kill Bernie for chiseling in on the odds he fixes for his fights. Leo refuses to allow Caspar to eliminate Bernie and Caspar leaves, furious. After he leaves, Leo gloats to his own adviser, Tom Regan, that he'd so easily angered Caspar. Tom, who owes a large sum to a bookie, Lazarre, tells Leo that he should turn Bernie over to Caspar. Leo refuses because he's romantically involved with Bernie's sister, Verna, who's only dating Leo to protect her brother. Leo, as an act of friendship, tries to pay off Tom's debt to Lazarre, but Tom refuses, not wanting to fall under the thumb of either side.

Tom wakes up the next morning after a night of hard drinking and card-playing where he lost his fedora to Verna and a man named Mink (who provides Bernie with his hot tips to cheat Caspar and is also the lover of both Bernie and The Dane). Tom asks the bartender, Tad, what happened the night before & about a bet he'd laid on a horse with huge odds. Tom's horse lost and Tom now owes even more money to Lazarre. Tom tells Tad to lay yet another wager on another horse with Lazarre.

Tom goes to Verna's apartment. He demands his hat but Verna won't let him in, slamming the door in his face. When he knocks again & she answers, she lets him in when he asks for a drink. The two have been having an affair behind Leo's back for some time.

Leo shows up at Tom's apartment very late that night and tells Tom he can't find Verna. He'd hired a private detective, "Rug" Daniels (so named because he wears a toupee) for Verna's safety, but Verna still gave Daniels the slip and disappeared. Tom tells Leo he has no idea of Verna's whereabouts and Leo leaves. Tom goes into his bedroom where Verna is half-asleep. When she asks if Tom told Leo she was there, Tom scoffs and tells her he'd told Leo she was a tramp. Verna is instantly furious and throws something at Tom.

The next day, Tom meets again with Leo at his private club. Leo is already meeting with the Mayor & O'Doul, the chief of police. Leo has given the Chief a few of Casper's speakeasy locations. He also informs Tom that Verna turned up & is downstairs Tom suggests that Leo turn over Bernie to avoid a long & destructive war in the town. Leo still refuses and appears flustered with Tom. Tom gets a drink from Tad and marches into the ladies powder room to confront Verna and tell her to stop her charade with Leo solely for Bernie's protection. The two have a violent confrontation where Verna punches Tom and he hurls his glass at her, breaking a vanity mirror. Verna storms out of the room.

Tom lays another bet with a short bookie and is picked up by two of Casper's thugs, Frankie (a tall, hulking man) & TicTac (a shorter but much smarter man). They take him to Casper's club where Tom meets with Johnny himself. Casper offers to pay Tom's debt to Lazarre and adds a substantial amount to the check he writes, hoping that Tom will become his personal adviser & help him win the war against Leo. Tom rudely refuses and Casper walks out, leaving Frankie behind to beat Tom. Tom slyly hits Frankie with a chair; Frankie gets TicTac to help and the two beat Tom briefly until the police arrive to raid the club. Tom blacks out but is revived by another officer. Outside the club, Tom talks to the Chief who seems to agree with Leo's idea of turning over Bernie. Tom tells the chief to stay in line with Leo.

Tom again spends the night with Verna. At Leo's house, two of Casper's hoods, armed with Thompsons, sneak inside and quietly march up the stairs to assassinate Leo. However, a fire that breaks out downstairs alerts Leo and he's able to outfox the two assassins, killing them both. A car drives by shooting at Leo, who confidently strides down the street shooting with one of the thugs' Thompsons. The car crashes, catches fire and explodes.

The next night Tom goes to Leo's club office and talks to him about how Casper is becoming more aggressive and will try to kill Leo again. Tom continues to advise Leo to turn over Bernie. When Leo refuses again, Tom finally tells Leo that he's been having an affair with Verna. Leo is silent and Tom leaves his office. Out in the hallway, Leo begins to punch Tom until he falls down the stairs. Leo calls his end to his relationship with Tom "the kiss off."

Tom takes another meeting with Casper, this time with Eddie Dane present. Casper reveals that he'd heard about Tom and Leo being on the outs and is enthusiastic about hiring him. However, Casper needs to know he can trust Tom first and asks him to reveal Bernie Bernbaum's location. Tom tells him and Casper sends Tom and Frankie and TicTac to the Royale Hotel where they find Bernie and drag him out to the car. Tom drives them all to Miller's Crossing, a forest outside town notorious for gangland slayings. TicTac hands Tom a pistol and tells him that he's been charged by Casper with killing Bernie. He also tells Tom to use two shots: one to put Bernie down and the second shot to Bernie's head to make sure he's dead. Tom takes Bernie into the woods. Bernie pleads with Tom to let him live, appealing to Tom's sense of decency. While he's down on his knees begging, Tom shoots, deliberately missing Bernie. When Bernie tries to thank him, Tom tells him to shut his mouth and leave town immediately. As Bernie runs, Tom fires his 2nd shot. He returns to the car, telling TicTac that he killed Bernie.

Tom meets with Casper, who tells him that his own bookie, Mink Larouie, lover of both The Dane and Bernie, has mysteriously disappeared. Tom later meets Verna at a boxing club & tells her to leave town for her own safety. Back at her apartment, The Dane breaks in demanding to know where Leo is. He tells Verna that she shouldn't bother covering for Tom since Tom killed Bernie. When two of Leo's guys burst in and try to stop The Dane, he shoots one and wounds the other. The one left alive tells him where Leo is and is gunned down. When The Dane returns his attention to Verna, he finds that she escaped through a window.

Bernie sneaks into Tom's apartment and they have a short conversation. Bernie is worried that his begging for his life at Miller's Crossing will get out. He demands that Tom kill Casper, threatening to appear publicly if Casper isn't dead in a few days. Just after he walks out, Tom jumps from his window to the street, trying to catch Bernie on his way out. Bernie outsmarts Tom and kicks him in the face.

Tom is picked up on the street by The Dane, TicTac and Frankie. The Dane, still suspicious of Tom, had beaten the two thugs until they'd told him they didn't personally see Bernie's body after Tom shot him. The Dane plans to take Tom out to Miller's Crossing to verify that Bernie is dead. As they walk through the woods, Tom stops and vomits on a tree. The Dane draws his pistol to kill him when TicTac suddenly finds a body. The dead man's face is covered with gunpowder burns and has been partially eaten by birds. TicTac reiterates to The Dane that he'd heard two shots from Tom's pistol.

Tom visits a washed-up boxer named Drop Johnson. Drop has been raking in a sizable amount of money -- Tom suspects that Bernie has been placing bets with Drop. Tom leaves, telling Drop to tell Bernie to get in touch with him.

Across town, a man walks up to the Sons of Erin club and tosses a bomb in the front window. The bomb goes off, throwing a dead and burned man out into the street. A police sergeant uses a bullhorn to order the rest of the club's occupants to surrender. When the first man walks out, he's promptly and cruelly shot by one of the mercenaries (a cameo by director Sam Raimi) working for the police. A gunfight erupts. At the Mayor's office, Tom meets again with Casper and they discuss Bernie's and Mink's loyalties.

Tom makes a phone call that night to Bernie. He tells Bernie about the body he'd seen in the woods: Bernie acknowledges that it's Mink Larouie and that he'd deliberately planted Mink's body there as insurance for Tom. Tom decides to call Bernie on his bluff of threatening to appear publicly to indict Tom. He tells Bernie to meet him at his apartment at 4 am with $2000.

At Casper's house, Tom tries to convince Casper that Mink will be meeting him at his place at 4. However, The Dane is at Casper's and threatens to kill Tom for killing Mink and leaving him in the woods -- The Dane had captured Drop Johnson and had beaten the information out of him. As he prepares to choke Tom to death, Casper hits The Dane with a fireplace shovel and finishes him off with a shot in the head. Casper vows to kill Mink at Tom's place.

Right before he walks home to meet with Bernie and Casper, Tom's stopped on the street by Verna. She threatens to kill him because she believes him responsible for the death of her brother. Verna can't shoot Tom and stalks off.

Tom walks back to his apartment and tells Casper's driver to leave -- he'll drive Casper home himself. As Tom walks into his building, he hears a couple of shots. Walking up the stairs, he sees Casper's head protruding through the banister on his floor. When he reaches the top, he finds Bernie, who'd shot Casper dead. Tom looks through Casper's pockets, finding his wallet and pockets the cash in it. Tom tells Bernie they can lay the blame for Casper's murder on The Dane and asks for Bernie's pistol. He then tells Bernie they can't pin the shooting on the already dead Dane and that it'll have to be Bernie himself that takes the fall. Bernie is shocked and drops to his knees, pleading for his life. When he tells Tom to "Look in your heart" Tom replies "What heart?" and shoots Bernie through the forehead. He takes Bernie's gun and lays it in Bernie's lap, doing likewise with Casper's gun and walks into his apartment. He calls Lazarre and tells him he has the money he owes him.

A few days later, a small burial his held for Bernie. Verna is present; she takes a small scoop of dirt and indifferently throws it on Bernie's coffin in it's hole. Tom arrives and walks back to Leo's car with him. As they approach the car, it leaves abruptly, Verna having told the driver to leave without Leo and Tom. Leo pleads with Tom to return to his service, promising him anything he wants. Tom turns him down and Leo walks off. As Tom watches him go, he looks slyly in Leo's direction.

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MILLERS CROSSING

Synopsis by

Kyle Licht

During the Prohibition, Tom Reagan is the right-hand man to the Irish mob boss Leo OBannon who is in rivalry with the Italian mob boss Johnny Caspar. Caspar wants the bookie Bernie Bernbaum dead but Leo offers to protect him, creating a mob battle. Leos girlfriend is Verna Bernbaum, Bernies sister, and is also sleeping with Tom. Tom is thrown in the middle of all this mob drama and double-crossing. Meanwhile, Tom owes Lazarre booking money to which Caspar offers to pay him off upon revealing the location of Bernie. Tom refuses and returns to Leo. Also, Leo has suspicions about Verna so he hires a tail, Rug, to watch her. The next morning, Rug ends up dead creating paranoia between Leo and Caspar, fueling the mob battle even more. The pressure cracks down on Tom between Leo, Caspar, Verna, and Lazarre. Caspar sends an attack on Leos house, being valiantly stopped by Leo himself. At the same time, corrupted cops and the mayor are working with Leo by offering protection if they can get leads on locating and taking down Caspar. Tom scolds Leo and hints at the affair with Verna, resulting in Tom getting beat-up and threatened to never show his face again. Tom joins Caspars forces and Caspar begins to become the more powerful mobster in the city.

To prove his loyalty, Caspar demands that Tom find and kills Bernie. Through Verna, he gets Bernies location and takes him to Millers Crossing to kill him. Instead, he pretends to kill him and lets him run free. From here, tensions build between Tom and Caspars right-hand man The Dane. Then, one night after a mob hit, Bernie shows up at Toms place and Tom offers to spare his life if he meets him again at 4:00am with two thousand dollars. Bernie complies and through intelligent planning, double crosses Caspar, tricking him into meeting Bernie at that time. Bernie shoots Caspar upon seeing him, allowing Tom to shoot Bernie dead. At Bernies funeral, Verna shuns Tom and Tom denies Leos offer to come back and work for the mob.