That moment is so memorable because it shows the selfishness and ugliness of the ultimate criminal. There's nothing glamorous about it: I'll take it, and you'll pay for it.

But Fargo understands the criminal mind better than does Miller's Crossing, an earlier film by the same Coen brothers. The gangster lifestyle is glamorized. Stylish clothes, tough guy poses, and a body count accumulated without noticeable remorse.

Oh, but it's a comedy, their adherents say. The script and story is so complex, it has to be a masterpiece. On the first part, though, the 'comedy' only works when Albert Finney has a 'bottomless' Thompson gun.

As for the exhausting web of alliances, you'll find the same in Mexican soap operas and pro wrestling storylines. Complexity and change are not an end in themselves.

Miller's Crossing is the wrong title. It should have been called Reagan's Hat. When a hat becomes one of the leading characters, you have to wonder about the story. It's been said that the Coens had writer's block; perhaps they should have written off the concept instead.

It isn't a bad film. In fact, it's nearly good. The quirky direction keeps things vaguely interesting, and the cast is excellent. You can't do much better than Albert Finney, John Turturro, and Steve Buscemi in supporting roles, and Gabriel Byrne makes a passable tough guy lead.

But the genius of other Coen films is lacking in Miller's Crossing. Gangster pictures are ripe for parody, note Bullets Over Broadway, which was Woody Allen's effective satire of the genre. But he succeeds wher the Coens fail, because he finds a complete story that dwells in the era but only touches on gangsters.

Miller's Crossing dives into the genre too deeply, and perhaps desperately looks for a edge through its indifference to violence. But cold blooded killers are not only a cliche, they're tedious, unless the violence makes a statement. The only moral here is that life has little value, which as we know is only the case in nursing homes, hospitals, and third world countries.

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