Set in 1929, Miller’s Crossing is the stylish story of an Irish crime boss and his cool, brainy aide whose friendship is severed when they fall in love with the same woman. The bloody gang war that ensues is artfully conveyed in that zone the Coen brothers have established so well: between a celebration of the conventions of the genre film and an ironic acknowledgement of their artifice. John Turturro’s searing performance as Bernie, a small-time bookie slated for murder, forms the film’s emotional core, which strikes at the callous opportunism and moral ambivalence of the prohibition era.