Kiss Me Deadly: Hollywood's Baddest Screen Gangsters
The Loyalist: Gabriel Byrne as Tom Reagan in
"Miller's Crossing"
"Friendship's got nothing to do with it." Inspired by the novels of Dashiell
Hammett, in particular "The Glass Key" and "Red Harvest," this gangster drama is
the Coen Bros.' masterpiece, a violent tale of love, ... moreloyalty and betrayal set in
the East Coast underworld during Prohibition. Gabriel Byrne's Tom Reagan, the
loyal lieutenant and reliable right-hand man to Irish mob boss Leo (Albert
Finney), suddenly goes rogue when the Italians muscle in on Leo's territory. Leo
is the more colorful character, thanks in large part to Finney's lively, lusty
performance, but the enigmatic Tom is the conundrum that defines the film.
Coolheaded, unflappable and unreadable, Byrne plays him close to the vest,
keeping his emotions checked behind a stony face while he bounces between the
warring gangs and never reveals his endgame until he plays his final piece. He
plays the warring figures like a grandmaster, but he's wrong about one thing:
Friendship's got everything to do with it. Close
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