Movie #25: The Usual Suspects

Movie #: 25
Movie Title: The Usual Suspects
Year Released: 1995

Director: Bryan Singer
Notable Cast: Stephen Baldwin, Gabriel Byrne, Chazz Palminteri, Kevin Pollak, Pete Postlethwaite, Kevin Spacey, Suzy Amis, Benicio del Toro, Giancarlo Esposito

Short Description: A sole survivor tells of the twisty events leading up to a horrific gun battle on a boat, which begin when five criminals meet at a seemingly random police lineup. (IMDB.com)


Rank on the Top 100 Lists (as of 1/7/2013)

AFI.com: N/A
IMDB.com: #26
Ranker.com: #26
Lifed.com: #24
Empire.com: #61
FilmCrave.com: #29
FlickChart.com: #42



Date Watched: 11/12/2016

Grade: 3.5 out of 5 (Very Good)

Rationale: In my reviews I try to talk in vague terms so as to not spoil films if you wish to see them later. Be warned as I won't be able to do that from this point on with The Usual Suspects. Ok, so just after the scene where the legend of Keyser Söze was introduced I was certain that one of the five thieves was Söze, likely Gabriel Byrne's Dean Keaton. Minutes before Kevin Spacey's Verbal Kint wrapped up his story to Special Agent Kujan in the police station I was (accurately) certain he was Söze. What I didn't expect, and still has me questioning the validity of everything Verbal said, is that he was looking at the bulletin board behind Special Agent Kujan and feeding his story with random names and details off of the board the entire time. Was anything in that story real or did Verbal concoct everything before waltzing out a free but very guilty man? I have no clue and that's what made The Usual Suspects end on such a high note. That, and Kevin Spacey rocks once again.