The Usual Suspects (1995)


The Usual Suspects (1995)

The Usual Suspects (1995)

The Usual Suspects (1995)

The Usual Suspects (1995)

The Usual Suspects (1995)

The Usual Suspects (1995)

The Usual Suspects (1995)

The Usual Suspects (1995)


The Usual Suspects (1995)


Director: Bryan Singer


Cast: Stephen Baldwin as Michael McManus, Gabriel Byrne as Dean Keaton, Benicio Del Toro as Fred Fenster, Kevin Pollak as Todd Hockney, Kevin Spacey as Roger 'Verbal' Kint, Chazz Palminteri as Dave Kujan, US Customs, Pete Postlethwaite as Kobayashi, Giancarlo Esposito as Jack Baer, FBI, Suzy Amis as Edie Finneran, Dan Hedaya as Sgt. Jeffrey 'Jeff' Rabin, Paul Bartel as Smuggler, Carl Bressler as Saul Berg, Phillipe Simon as Fortier, Jack Shearer as Renault, Christine Estabrook as Dr. Plummer




After a gun fight on the docks leaves only one survivor with the majority
dead, NYC agent Dave Kujan flies in to ensure that ex-cop Dean Keaton is
really dead. During the questioning the survivor, Verbal Kint, tells of how
events came to happen. Five criminals are brought together in a line up and
decide to use the events to plan a job. However another survivor tells an
extra story – one involving master criminal Kyser Soze. Kint reveals how
the gang were forced into the fateful job by Soze – however who is Soze and
why did the men try to steal what appears to be a ship load of drugs that
didn't exist?

When I first saw this I saw it in the cinema – the very next day I went back
and watched it again. The plot starts with a cliff hanger and appears to
gradually answer the mystery - however what it actually does is create more
questions for every answer it appears to give. It does this without
frustrating you or without confusing the issue – in fact you don't know
right till the end that you've been caught in a story teller's web. The
plot unfolds like a normal thriller but it is anything
but.

The strength of the film is in the writing but it is the direction that also
manages to create a great mood. Singer uses clever shots weaving the story
into a believable web of deceit. The cast add quality to every single line,
every single scene. It's hard to imagine that the film could be the same
with any one person changed.

Bryne is great as Keaton, his world weary cop drawn into a plan he can't
control – or is he the master behind it all. Spacey gives a great
performance as our eyes and ears as he retells the events, he deservedly won
an Oscar for this role – before he got all soft and started becoming a
starring man. Baldwin has the film of his life (albeit not hard!), he's
really good and should be lucky to get another good role. Even the minor
roles in the gang are great – Del Toro's performance is even better when you
knew why he did it that way. Likewise Pollack will never have a better role
– he has genuine tension between him and Baldwin (even in later interviews
the dislike still seems real – with things like Pollack telling Baldwin he's
sorry that his brothers stole all the food from his table). Palminteri does
a great performance and is totally convincing. Postlethwaite is good
despite playing an Asian (?) lawyer. Suzi Amis is good in her brief role
and Esposito is as good as he always is.

Overall I could talk for hours about this film. It's rare for films now to
have decent plots worth talking about however this manages it – it's still
twisty and impressive no matter how many times you watch
it.

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