flawless storytelling

Rating: Null/10 (3 May 2004)

The Usual Suspects would have been a perfect crime film even if it wasn't
shrouded in mystery. It would have been a perfect character drama even if it
was about something other than organized crime. It would have been a perfect
ghost story if Kaiser Soze was not so absolutely alive. As it happens it is merely a perfect movie ... period. This film succeeds on every level it stands on. There is no weak link. Every
collaborator understood strength of the story and did their job better than they ever had or ever would again.
Acting -- The Usual Suspects boasts the strongest acting performance a male
ensemble in film history (Twelve Angry Men and Glengary Glenross
notwithstanding). The five principles have an astounding grasp of their
characters and the intricate details that make them so memorable. The
"supporting players" right down to Hungarian burn victim serve the remarkably layered story as though they were the only ones who could tell it.

Directing -- Look in vain upon a second viewing for clues that will lead you to the climax's revelation. So painstakingly flawless is Bryan Singer's storytelling ability that with every twist comes apprehension: "why didn't I see that coming?" you ask yourself. But Singer is not giving us merely a mystery with a surprise ending. He allows everything to build as the story goes on; along with the
building tension and the guessing is the mounting sense of almost apocalyptic doom that surrounds the characters. It oozes from every frame.
Writing -- Christopher McQuarrie has revealed his obsession to be the inner
struggles of those dedicated to doing wrong. He does not give us characters
that we can relate to but by God we WILL understand them. This is dialog in its purest form, not an extemporaneous syllable is spoken.

But it is all three of these aspects as well as the cinematography, music and editing which create the film's most outstanding effect. Throughout the film the mystery does not seem to be real. It is otherworldy, mythic. closer to Dante's Inferno than to The Maltese Falcon. From the very beginning the events seem
part of a dark pattern. One put in motion by a force that no one knows is there but is leading each character into Hell. This force is entirely palpable from the first reel, before it is given a name. And that is a name that will live on in the memory of fictional film for as long as it exists.