Gangsters and writers mingle in Coen classics

Two Coen brothers DVDs were released recently. One is an overlooked gem, the other a highly lauded but somewhat over-praised exercise in mania. Both "Miller's Crossing" and "Barton Fink" are welcome additions to the format -- beautiful films that benefit greatly from anamorphic widescreen transfers. As such, if one has only seen the crappy VHS incarnations that were available up until now, or has yet to see these masterworks, they'd be well advised to at least rent both films.\n"Miller's Crossing" (1990) is the tale of Tom Reagan (Gabriel Byrne), a hard-knuckled Irish gangster who serves as an advisor to mob boss, Leo (Albert Finney). Problems arise as Tom's drinking and gambling habits amass, and Leo takes up with two-timing, femme fatale Verna (Marcia Gay Harden) and her weasel shyster of a brother, Bernie Bernbaum (John Turturro). Meanwhile, rival Italian gangster, Johnny Caspar (Coen Bros. regular Jon Polito) tries to sway loyalties in having bookie Bernbaum clipped. But Reagan, both astutely and heartlessly, plays the sides against one another to keep his hands and whatever shreds of conscious remain clean.\nMany complain that "Miller's" is an overwrought exercise in style over substance. I would have to disagree. While on the surface it's a '30s Prohibition era gangster flick, deep down it's the study of one man's soul. Sure, characters spout prototypically snappy Coen dialogue (i.e. "Take your flunky and dangle.") and action set pieces astound (Finney's Thompson sub-machine gun montage set to "Danny Boy" being the capper). But ultimately, it's as then-cinematographer Barry Sonnenfeld says, "a handsome movie about men in hats."\n"Barton Fink" (1991) was written as a remedy to the writer's block the Coens suffered while penning "Miller's." And it's apparent, rarely has a film been this claustrophobic. Turturro returns as a pretentious '40s playwright commissioned to scribe a "common man"-wrestling wrestling picture -- this, despite knowing next to nothing of the sport and harboring his fair share of contempt for the Average Joe. Essentially, it's an impossible task. \nMuch of the film's atmosphere comes as a result of being shot mostly within Fink's seedy hotel room, sparsely decorated aside from a pin-up of a buxom brunette sitting on the beach. Laughs and thrills arise from supporting characters -- a Louis B. Mayer-esque movie mogul (Michael Lerner, in an Oscar nominated turn), a Faulkner-like lush of a writer ("Frasier" staple John Mahoney) and a loutish galoot (John Goodman) with a dark secret. "Fink" is a slow and oftentimes frustrating film, which ultimately rewards patient viewers in its winning conclusion.\nNeither disc sports many extras -- both contain trailers for either film, as well as one for the Coen's earlier work, "Raising Arizona." "Miller's" has a nice, short Barry Sonnenfeld featurette, and "Fink" has some truly throwaway deleted scenes. Sadly, that's it. The Coen's don't really seem to participate. Ultimately, it will be the films themselves that draw cinephiles to these discs; luckily, they're both worth it.