The Usual Suspects (1995)

Verbal:  The greatest trick the devil ever pulled was convincing the world he did not exist. And like that... he is gone.

As a Christian, there is more truth in that quote above than what you may realise but that is another story.   The first time I saw this movie I was gobsmacked by the story and how well it was acted and brought together.  Years later and probably some 10 or more viewings after I am still amazed at how good this film is and what a stunning job Bryan Singer did as director to bring this neo-noir to the screen.

The story begins with a sole surviving man on a boat who has been shot and in his last breaths decides to light a cigarette (well this is neo-noir so the whole smoking thing is there...all the time).  We do not know why he was shot or the circumstances involved but after he lights his cigarette he throws the matches down to a trail of fuel and the camera follows the line of fuel being ignited then suddenly a stream of liquid extinguishes the flame.  A mysterious character then proceeds down to the sole survivor and asks him if he is ready to die and then proceeds to shoot the man and then sets fire to the boat.  As the mysterious character rushes to get off the boat before it explodes the camera moves to a crippled witness, Verbal Kint (Kevin Spacey) hiding on the wharf.  The story then begins as the witness tells what happened and how it all came together, starting with a police line up that included McManus (Stephen Baldwin), Keaton (Bagrien Byrne), Fenster (Benicio Del Toro), Hockney (Kevin Pollack) and Verbal.  As the police investigate the murders and fire damaged ship the name of a mysterious criminal mastermind is brought to light.  Keyszer Soze.   Who is Keyzer Soze?  How is he involved?

There is a lot of interesting information about this film.  One thing that sticks in my mind after listening to the commentary on the DVD quite a few years ago was in regard to Kevin Spacey and the character he portrays, Verbal Kint.  In the film Verbal suffers from cerebral palsy and has a lame foot and cannot move his left hand, so to assist Spacey in his acting they glued the fingers on his left hand together so it would be even more realistic in appearance.  
The movie also has a fantastic twist at the end that stands up with the best of them being such as The Sixth Sense (1999), Primal Fear (1996), The Game (1997), Witness for the Prosecution (1957), Psycho (1960) and Les diaboliques (1955 French film) along with many others, so I have no intention of saying too much to ruin it all for you but needless to say your likely watch this more than once to try to see the hints, if any, the movie may give.

The acting is brilliant by all as is the direction and who could not mention the amazing music score that seems to perfectly suit the movie and scenes.  Simply, a stunning film that, for me, can be watched many times without getting that “overwatched” feel.  The only thing I am not keen on is the amount of swearing as there is a reasonable amount of it which whilst it’s not out of place for the characters being portrayed, it is in my opinion not really needed and can get a bit much at times.  

The Bluray reviewed here is the Australian version which is a barebones release with the movie and no extras.  Interestingly, the Australian DVD contains the audio commentary which is a real interesting listen.  The image is near pristine and is in the 2.35:1 aspect ratio and sound comes to us in the DTS HD Master Audio 5.1 format and sounds wonderful.  No extras.

Overall this is a brilliant neo noir film that comes very highly recommended.  The twist is one that will sit in your mind for a long time.  Fantastic stuff.

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