The Usual Suspects (Special Editon) Review
What do five criminals in a lineup do? 5 criminals in a lineup? This starting point already sets the tone of this movie. And it only gets better from here. This movie describes in flashbacks how a group of 5 criminals is gently or not so gently persuaded to do a job for the mysterious Keyzer Söse, a master criminal, the great puppet player. Every cut offers some new take on reality, offers yet another look at the interpersonal dynamics between the main characters and always leaves the viewer with the feeling that something is still amiss, like that puzzle piece which nearly but not perfectly fits, this nagging doubt in the back of ones head about a story too perfect to be true.
And thus we follow this gang on their path towards self destruction. Slowly all the pieces of the puzzle fall into place, slowly one realizes that each and every move of them had somehow been preordained, that even in their rebellion they were still following the masterplan of Keyzer Söse.
The final scene, in which the agent interviewing Kevin Spacey manages to raise some of the obscurantist veil covering the whole real story is memorable and marvelous - and I will not say anymore here, not to spoil the movie for others.
The Usual Suspects (Special Editon) Overview
Winner of two 1995 Academy AwardsÂ(r), including Best Original Screenplay, this masterful, atmospheric film noir enraptured audiences with its complex and riveting storyline, gritty, tour-de-force performances (including an OscarÂ(r)-winning* turn by Kevin Spacey) and a climax that is truly deserving of the word stunning. Also starring Stephen Baldwin, Gabriel Byrne, Chazz Palminteri, Kevin Pollak and Pete Postlethwaite, this 'thoroughly engrossing film (HBO) is so gripping and diabolically clever (The Wall Street Journal) that it becomes a maze you'll be happy to get lost in (Los Angeles Times)! Held in an L.A. interrogation room, Verbal Kint attempts to convince the feds that the mythic crime lord not only exists, but was also responsible for drawinghim and his four partners into a multi-million dollar heist that ended with an explosion in San Pedro Harborleaving few survivors. But as Kint lures his interrogators into the incredible story of this crime lord's almost supernatural prowess, so too will you be mesmerized by a lore that is completely captivating from beginning to end!
The Usual Suspects (Special Editon) Specifications
Ever since this convoluted thriller dazzled audiences and critics in 1995 and won an Oscar for Christopher McQuarrie's twisting screenplay, The Usual Suspects has continued to divide movie lovers into opposite camps. While a lot of people take great pleasure from the movie's now-famous central mystery (namely, "Who is Keyser Söze?"), others aren't so easily impressed by a movie that's too enamored of its own cleverness to make much sense. After all, what are we to make of a final scene that renders the entire movie obsolete? Half the fun of The Usual Suspects is the debate it provokes and the sheer pleasure of watching its dynamic cast in action, led (or should we say, misled) by Oscar winner Kevin Spacey as the club-footed con man who recounts the saga of enigmatic Hungarian mobster Keyser Söze. Spacey's in a band of thieves that includes Gabriel Byrne, Stephen Baldwin, Kevin Pollak, and Benicio Del Toro, all gathered in a plot to steal a large shipment of cocaine. The story is told in flashback as a twisted plot being described by Spacey's character to an investigating detective (Chazz Palmintieri), and The Usual Suspects is enjoyable for the way it keeps the viewer guessing right up to its surprise ending. Whether that ending will enhance or extinguish the pleasure is up to each viewer to decide. Even if it ultimately makes little or no sense at all, this is a funny and fiendish thriller, guaranteed to entertain even its vocal detractors. --Jeff Shannon
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