The Usual Suspects (1995)

Released: August 16, 1995
Director: Bryan Singer
Starring: Gabriel Byrne, Chazz Palminteri, Kevin Spacey, Stephen Baldwin, Kevin Pollak, Benicio del Toro, Giancarlo Esposito, Pete Postlethwaite, Dan Hedaya, Suzy Amis

About five years before his work with the X-Men movies, Bryan Singer directed this little movie that could with a six million dollar budget. It became a big sleeper hit of that year, making a cool $25 million dollars at the box office and Kevin Spacey won an best supporting actor oscar for his role, pretty much making him the toast of hollywood in the mid to late 90's with films like L.A. Confidential, Se7en, and American Beauty.

In The Usual Suspects, the FBI is investigating a fire and explosion that broke out on a cargo ship in California. Only two people survive the blaze, a badly burned Hungarian, and a cripple who was a con artist Roger "Verbal" Kint played by Kevin Spacey. Kint agrees to testify his side of the story in return for immunity from the authorities and just when he thinks he's free, he is pressured into another interrogation from a dedicated customs agent Dave Kujan. Kint tells his side of the story leading up to the events of the explosion. He was a member of a special five man crew including himself that consists of multiple b-list actors at the time, Stephen Baldwin, Benicio del Toro, and Kevin Pollak to name a few.

Without ruining the film I will try to describe each member. Dean Keaton (Gabriel Byrne) a former corrupt police officer who is trying to go legit, Michael McManus (Stephen Baldwin), Fred Fenster (del Toro), and Todd Hockney (Kevin Pollak). The crew comes together and does a series of jobs, their greed gets the best of them and when they rob a jewel thief they steal his briefcase expecting jewels but instead they get a case full of cocaine. Their stunt attracts the man who handed out the assignment, Kobayashi a lawyer working for a faceless but notorious crime lord named Keyser Söze. He gives the crew another job via blackmail to hit the cargo ship at the beginning of the film that contains $91,000,000.00 of cocaine, wipe out the crew members and in return they get to sell the coke and split the profits among themselves.

I can't really talk about the movie that much otherwise I will ruin the ending, the secret at the end is well known by now and if your loud mouth friends who spoil movies blurted out the ending then you might have a different opinion on the movie. Luckily nobody ruined the film for me but I did have the ending figured out by the end, however the buildup leading to the famous ending was great. The movie is very short compared to other crime movies, about 106 minutes. I found the length and films pacing to be perfect, it doesn't screw around with pointless sub-plots, and even though the film is told through Kint's flashbacks, the story is straight to the point.

The cast of b-actors works in this movie, I even found Stephen Baldwin to be enjoyable as the angry enforcer McManus, to Benicio del Toro and his characters hillarious accent and humor. But Kevin Spacey steals the show as Kint, the man with the plan. Bryan Singer and writer Christopher McQuarrie had the characters taylor made to fit the cast, my only complaints were the police/FBI characters like Kujan who was your classic tough guy, always get your man type officer/agent, but it's a neo-noir movie so no big deal.

The movie is a classic neo-noir film told through the eyes of a con artist with dark cinematography. The film is carried on the strength of the big conclusion, but most viewers might be able to see it coming. Sounds like I'm talking about an M. Night Shyamalan film but don't fret. The film has a terrific cast of b list actors with great pacing and length that isn't too long or too short, if your looking for a good throwback to the neo-noir genre, give this film a try.

The Verdict: 4.0