The Usual Suspects (1995)

Yes I am a tad bit late, and I am terribly sorry. I had chosen sleep over watching “The Usual Suspects”, which Jim forced me to watch. I assumed he chose this movie in particular because of the recent crime movies I’ve been watching. Now this is a drastic change than all the gangster movies, there isn’t a focus on action but more on the mystery and suspense. But I’m all for that, at least I hope so. These are my words that describe my enjoyment of the movie.

The story is the main enjoyment of the film, I think the movie experience would be better if you didn’t know the story prior to viewing. So skip this part if necessary, but I’ll give you the dumbed down version if so be. 5 men are brought in for questioning for a truck hijack involving firearms. All are innocent and the 5 decide to get back at the police for wasting their time. The plan goes through flawlessly, but this stunt catches Keyser Soze’s interest. He needs a job done and forces the 5 to do the job, because each of them have wronged Soze one way or another. Do the 5 cooperate or make a plan of their own to find out who this Soze is?

Roger, Michael and Fred are ticked off with getting accused wrongly.

The mix of characters are real nice in this movie, especially when the characters are filled with big stars. Michael McManus (Stephen Baldwin), Fred Fenster (Benicio Del Toro), Todd Hockney (Kevin Pollak), Roger ‘Verbal’ Kint (Kevin Spacey) and Dean Keaton (Gabriel Byrne) make up the 5 suspects. Their chemistry is fantastic, and I haven’t seen a group of criminals working so well together since the Ocean Series. They all have their own characteristics, but all are there to support one another. As strong as the characters and acting are, this might not be the best part. Also I liked Byrne a lot better in “The Usual Suspects” than “Miller’s Crossing”.

The best part is the ending, and I will not spoil it for you. But to keep this short, it came and totally blew my freakin’ mind. Just a great conclusion. I can’t say much without spoiling it, but it totally makes this movie amazing.

Some times the gang don’t take no shit from anyone.

But how the story is delivered really amplifies the ending. The whole story is told by Verbal when he is being interrogated by US Customs Dave Kujan (Chazz Palminteri). Verbal’s timid demeanour and Kujan’s in your face attitude really make a great team on screen. It is an interesting method of telling the story, and I liked it.

In general, this movie isn’t the best for most for the most part. There isn’t much action to really keep my interest. But the suspense sort of got me immersed in the whole movie. The movie truly shines at the last 15 minutes of the movie when everything gets wrapped up. It even says on the DVD cover: “A whopper of an ending!” and it doesn’t lie. I would love to see this movie again with a friend and watch his reaction at the ending.