The Usual Suspects is the film which finally launched Kevin Spacey's career and it isn't hard to see why. The film follows the police interrogation of a crippled conman named Verbal Kint (Spacey). Kint has been called in for questioning after being one of only two survivors of a pitched gun battle aboard a ship. As the other is covered in 80% burns and speaks only Hungarian, Kint has the floor.
His story begins with four hardened criminals plus himself, who meet when they appear together in a police line-up. As line-ups never contain more than one criminal, they realise that it was rigged. Why?, and by whom? provide the basis for the film and the sequence of events which lead the criminals to the ship.
This is a brilliant film. Watching how the story develops to culminate in the climactic gunfight is fascinating whilst the narrative switches between fact and Kint's skewed version of events, meaning you are never sure what is true and what isn't. Spacey gives a superb performance and deservedly won the Best Supporting Actor Oscar. The script also had Oscar winning success winning the Best Original Screenplay gong. The writing is excellent with some very sharp exchanges, particularly between Kint and his Police interrogator Dave Kujon (Palminteri). You will quote the dialogue for weeks, especially if a friend swipes your car keys - "Give ME the keys you...."
Upon finishing this review you should head straight down to HMV and buy it, thereby beating the crowd of people who have seen it and after reading this review, remembered just how good it is. However, if you desire a popcorn film look somewhere else. The Usual Suspects requires the utmost concentration from the word go and is best watched in a group so you can help each other along and speculate about who Keyser Soze, the master criminal behind it all, really is. If you don't feel like concentrating, this film deserves to be left until you do. To fully understand what has happened you need to watch this film twice. You'll want to see it a lot more |
