The Usual Suspects (1995)

The Usual Suspects (1995) Movie Reviews
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Cast: Kevin Spacey, Stephen Baldwin, Gabriel Byrne, Chazz Palminteri, Kevin Pollak

Director: Bryan Singer

Rating: R

Running Time: 106 min.

Synopsis: Near the end of The Usual Suspects, Kevin Spacey, in his Oscar-winning performance as crippled con man Roger "Verbal" Kint, says, "The greatest trick the Devil ever pulled was convincing the world he didn't exist." This may be the key line in this story; the farther along the movie goes, the more one realizes that not everything is quite what it seems, and what began as a conventional whodunit turns into something quite different. A massive explosion rips through a ship in a San Pedro, CA, harbor, leaving 27 men dead, the lone survivor horribly burned, and 91 million dollars' worth of cocaine, believed to be on board, mysteriously missing. Police detective Dave Kujan (Chazz Palminteri) soon brings in the only witness and key suspect, "Verbal" Kint. Kint's nickname stems from his inability to keep his mouth shut, and he recounts the events that led to the disaster. Five days earlier, a truckload of gun parts was hijacked in Queens, NY, and five men were brought in as suspects: Kint, hot-headed hipster thief McManus (Stephen Baldwin), ill-tempered thug Hockney (Kevin Pollak), flashy wise guy Fenster (Benicio Del Toro), and Keaton (Gabriel Byrne), a cop gone bad now trying to go straight in the restaurant business. While in stir, someone suggests that they should pull a job together, and Kint hatches a plan for a simple and lucrative jewel heist. Despite Keaton's misgivings, the five men pull off the robbery without a hitch and fly to Los Angeles to fence the loot. Their customer asks if they'd be interested in pulling a quick job while out West; the men agree, but the robbery goes horribly wrong and they soon find themselves visited by Kobayashi (Pete Postlethwaite), who represents a criminal mastermind named Keyser Soze. Soze's violent reputation is so infamous that he's said to have responded to a threat to murder his family by killing them himself, just to prove that he feared no one. When Kobayashi passes along a heist proposed by Soze that sounds like suicide, the men feel that they have little choice but to agree.

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  • Dec 12, 2010 05:04 am

    Jeff said: B

    The movie The Usual Suspects was released in 1995, written by Christopher McQuarrie, directed by Bryan Singer, and edited by John Ottman. Five suspicious guys are brought together for a police lineup on accusations none of them know anything about. The only reason they come up with as to why they were chosen is because they are the popular criminals in the area. Armed with those feelings, they group together and scheme up a plan to get back at that police department. Roger “Verbal” Kint (Kevin Spacey) is a cripple who serves as ‘the man with the plan’. Dean Keaton (Gabriel Byrne) is a former cop and the most wanted of the group by the police. McManus (Stephen Baldwin) is a cheerful sociopath, and Tod Hockney (Kevin Pollack) is exaggeratedly cynical. Finally, Fenster (Benicio Del Toro) has severe speech impediment and a flamboyant suit. Not everyone is what they seem to be. The group was only supposed to do one job together, and that was the one to get back at the police. However, more jobs were schemed with financial gain as an incentive to the group. Ultimately, they find out they have been working for a person called Keyser Soze whom is unknown by the law enforcement but is notoriously known on the criminal side. Keaton is unsettled with working for someone he has never met, but agrees to finish the last job. This film incorporates a lot of flashbacks to portray the events of these jobs. The editorial cutting in these scenes is superb. The story transitions smoothly despite the abrupt change in scenes. Still, the audience needs to pay full attention constantly to maintain coherence of this story. The film’s present tense scenes have “Verbal” Kint talking to the detective about the events. When he goes into details, the movie switches to a narrative aspect briefly as if “Verbal” is talking to the viewers. The actions occurring on these scenes may not be all what they seem; it is from “Verbal”s point of view. It’s similar to the movie American Beauty in that many aspects are different than they appear. As beautiful as the main character’s house looks like from the outside, you would think the same of the people inside. But that’s not the case because the family is torn. The father next door believes his son is gay or on drugs, he is neither. And then the best friend of the main character’s daughter is not exactly the type of person she dresses like. We all need to train ourselves find our misconceptions and see the people for who they really are.

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