Miller's Crossing (1990)

In the Coen Brothers' twisty and complex gangster-crime drama (their third feature) set in the Prohibition Era that paid homage to hard-boiled 40s gangster films:

• at the close of the title credits - a fedora hat floated through a wooded forest propelled by breezes and gusts of wind (the object identified Italian consigliere Tom Reagan's character-defining item of clothing)
• in the opening scene (similar to the opening sequence in The Godfather (1972)), Prohibition-era Irish gangster-boss Leo O'Bannon (Albert Finney) held an office meeting with Italian rival Giovanni 'Johnny Caspar' Casparro (Jon Polito), accompanied by his second-in-command - the brutal and bisexual Eddie Dane (J.E. Freeman); the two Italian mobsters were there to inform O'Bannon that they were planning to eliminate two-bit "son of a bitch" Jewish grifter-bookie Bernie Bernbaum (John Turturro) for double-crossing them - he was accused of revealing Caspar's fixed fights to other gamblers: ("Now if you can't trust a fix, what can you trust?...We question character to determine who's chiseling in on my fix. And that's how we know it's Bernie Bernbaum, the Shmatte Kid. Because ethically, he's kind of shaky")
• O'Bannon responded negatively and affirmed that Bernie shouldn't be touched: "Sorry, Caspar. Bernie pays me for protection" - his defense of Bernie threatened a turf war [Note: Bernie was the brother of Verna Bernbaum (Marcia Gay Harden) who had begun a relationship with Leo, while she also carried on an affair with Tom Reagan (Gabriel Byrne), O'Bannon's de facto consigliere at the film's start]; the film's deadly love triangle was between Verna, O'Bannon, and Reagan
• after O'Bannon refused to cooperate, Caspar displayed his antagonism toward the Irish king-pin ("big-shot"): "I'm not some guinea fresh off the boat you can kick. I'm too big now. I'm sick of taking the strap from you. I'm sick of marching in here to kiss your Irish ass! And I'm sick of the high-hat! You's fancy-pants, all of youse"

The Film's Opening Office Meeting - Set During the Prohibition Era
Irish Gangster Boss Leo O'Bannon (Albert Finney)	Italian Gangster Rival Boss Giovanni 'Johnny Caspar' Casparro (Jon Polito)

• after their departure, Tom offered advice to O'Bannon to agree to Caspar's demands, but his words failed to be convincing: ("Think about what protecting Bernie gets us and what offending Caspar loses us"); when Leo responded to Tom: "You know I don't like to think," Tom answered him: "Well, think about whether you should start"
• in an iconic, dialogue-less, 5-minute beautifully choreographed sequence, there was an attempted assassination shoot-out attempt on Leo O'Bannon's life; as he was reclining in an upstairs bedroom while listening to a 78 rpm grammophone record playing 'Danny Boy' (sung by Irish tenor Frank Patterson), he sensed trouble (smoke in the floorboards from a downstairs fire) as Tommy Gun-wielding assassins sent by Caspar approached; he single-handedly killed a couple of men by leaping under the bed and shooting at their legs; after grabbing a machine-gun and leaping onto the roof and then onto the ground, he fired mercilessly at length at one assassin in an upstairs window who violently and spastically vibrated from the barrage of bullets (a "dance of death"); finally, he killed the two remaining hit-men fleeing in a black car when it crashed into a tree and caught fire
• mobster Tom Reagan was guided by TicTac (Al Mancini) about how to proceed with the execution of the double-crossing bookie Bernie; the killing of Bernie was designed to prove Tom's loyalty to Caspar to whom he had switched allegiance (although he was still loyal to Leo), Reagan was given specific instructions: ("Okay, take him in the woods and whack him....That's right. The boss wants you to do it. Make sure you're with the good guys. Now, you know how to do this, right? You gotta remember to put one in his brain. Your first shot puts him down, then you put one in his brain, and he's dead, then we go home")
• during the faked execution scene, Reagan marched bookie Bernie Bernbaum far into the woods at Miller's Crossing to shoot him; Bernie began to beg and soon was pleading on his knees - it was a remarkable monologue: ("Tommy, you can't do this! You don't bump guys! You're not like those animals back there. It's not right, Tom! They can't make us do this. It's a wrong situation. They can't make us different people than we are. We're not muscle, Tom. I- I-I never killed anybody. I used a little information for a chisel, that's all. It's my nature, Tom! I- I-I can't help it, somebody gives me an angle, I play it. I don't deserve to die for that. Do you think I do? I'm-I'm-I'm just a grifter, Tom. I'm-I'm-I'm-I'm-I'm an nobody! But I'll tell ya what, I never crossed a friend, Tom. I never killed anybody, I never crossed a friend, nor you, I'll bet. We're not like those animals! This is not us! Th-th-this is some hop dream! It's a dream, Tommy! I'm praying to you! I can't die! I can't die out here in the woods, like a dumb animal! In the woods, LIKE A DUMB ANIMAL! Like, like a dumb animal! I can't, I can't, I CAN'T DIE OUT HERE IN THE WOODS! like a dumb animal. I can't die! I'm praying to you! Look in your heart! I'm praying to you! Look in your heart! I'm praying to you! Look in your heart! I'm praying to you! Look in your heart. I'm praying to you! Look in your heart. I'm praying to you. Look in your heart, look in your heart! You can't kill me, look in your heart")

Miller's Crossing - The Initial Execution: Bernie's Pathetic Pleading - "Look in your heart!"

• Reagan deliberately shot in a different direction and freed Bernie, and told him to disappear forever: ("Shut up! You're dead, get me?...Shut up! You have to disappear for good. No one can see you. No one can know...Go somewhere no one knows you. Anyone sees you, you really are dead. You're not my problem anymore")
• later in the film, a vengeful Reagan was again forced to deal with the blackmailing Bernie - and this time there would be no second chances as a result of Bernie's begging and pleading: ("Tommy! Look in your heart. Look in your heart"); Tommy couldn't forgive him again: ("What heart?") and he put a bullet in Bernie's forehead