Most critics respond warmly to Miller’s Crossing, with praise clustering around its controlled direction, carefully composed images and inventive gangster dialogue. The performances are another point of agreement: Albert Finney draws repeated praise, while Jon Polito’s comic work also stands out. The favourable reviews find that the intricate plotting gives weight to questions of friendship, character and ethics, rather than merely providing an opportunity to revisit crime-film conventions.
The spread is wide, however, and the central disagreement concerns how much substance lies beneath the style. RogerEbert.com admires the craft and acting but finds the storytelling short of momentum, while the Los Angeles Times finds the film chilly despite its visual and verbal pleasures. The New York Times offers the strongest dissent, treating the references to older gangster films as an exercise with little point or connection to life beyond the genre.