Good Movies: The Usual Suspects


The Usual Suspects is a 1995 film from director Bryan Singer and screen writer Christopher McQuarrie. A classic heist and mystery film in its own right, the movie is filled with crime, interrogation and mass murder. The twists and suspense will keep you intrigued from the beginning to the end.

Directed by Bryan Singer, it boasts a great cast including Kevin Spacey, Stephen Baldwin, Benicio Del Toro, Gabriel Byrne, Chazz Palminteri, Kevin Pollak and Pete Postlethwaite.

The crime is set aboard a ship in the harbor on the coast of San Pedro, California. A dying man attempts to set fire to himself and the ship, but he is shot by a mysterious shadowed figure. Thus, the whole mystery begins.

The narrative is prescribed through a series of interrogation scenes and flashbacks that try to recreate the events that brought the opening scene’s extensive crime to be. The director leaves us only one man to help us make sense of it all: the only unharmed witness of the whole debacle, the disabled Roger “Verbal” Kint.

Part of the ensemble that orchestrated the crime, the disabled Roger Kint is questioned harshly by a Special Agent Dave Kujan (Chazz Palminteri).

It is through Verbal’s retelling of the previous events (and a lone, hospitalized Hungarian criminal witness) that Kujan discovers the reputation of a well known but seldom seen underground Turkish criminal mastermind by the name of Keyser Soze.

Whether Keyser Soze even exists is a mystery to Kujan and whether or not he finds the mythical mastermind depends solely on Verbal Kint’s testimony.

Provocative, utterly suspenseful and intellectually thrilling, The Usual Suspects is a classic heist movie that will test your logic and have you aching to keep up. Kevin Spacey’s performance is captivating and compelling, such that Rolling Stone magazine went as far as promoting it as Oscar worthy soon after the film’s release.

Although Roger Ebert gave the film a terrible review, the film debuted to moderate reviews, two Academy Award nominations and praise from various film festivals. The Usual Suspects took home two Academy Awards in the categories of Best Supporting Actor for Kevin Spacey’s performance and Best Original Screenplay for Christopher McQuarrie’s work.

The Independent Spirit Film Award was won in the category of Best Supporting Actor by Benicio Del Toro, while screenwriter Christopher McQuarrie took home the same award for the category of Best Screenplay and the film even won in the category of Best Cinematography for Newton Thomas Sigel’s work with a wide range of dolly movements and creeping zoom shots. These notable techniques were responsible for the films successful suspenseful ambiance and close tight shots of the dialogue between Kint and Kujan.

Still highly recognized today, the movie made film history in June 2008, when the American Film Institute (AFI) declared it part of it’s Ten Top Ten list, ranking as the tenth best mystery film ever made. Keyser Soze also made history: he is noted by the American Film Institute as one of the prominent film villains of the century.

You might even be able to use this as a bargaining tool to get a better price. download free full length movies That’s the most frustrating thing for both parties. Set in the 1930’s, the series unfolds through the eyes of John Boy (Richard Thomas)

Bookmark and Share

Why Not Watch The Shawshank Redemption? The Silence Of The Lambs – A Psychological Thriller

Leave a Reply