Review

Rating: Null/10 (29 July 2012)

The Usual Suspects (1995) is a movie based on twist, turns and most importantly "manipulation". It is not long in the movie before you realize that playing with the mind of a human is the ultimate goal of the movie. The movie starts out with a man who appears to be dark and cold killing someone on a boat. Then this mysterious man sets the boat to a blaze leaving two survivors. The two survivors include Kevin Spacey who plays Roger "Verbal" and a Hungarian. The twist and turns begin once FBI agent Giancarlo Esposito who plays Jack Baer and U.S Customs agent Chazz Palminteri who plays Dave Kujan , show up to interview Verbal who just so happens to be a con artist. The theme of manipulation is present throughout the film. Here you have a master manipulator con artist that has taken pride in manipulating someone. The theme of The Usual Suspects is very similar to Primal Fear starring Richard Gere. Primal Fear is about a boy who convinces the jury and his attorney that he suffers from multiple personality disorder and the evil side of his disorder murdered someone.
Verbal whose character appears to be a vulnerable man dealing with cerebral palsy tells a story with one goal in mind and that is to manipulate. He begins to tell this story of five criminals, Dean Keaton (Gabriel Byrne), Michael McManus (Stephen Baldwin), Fred Fenster (Benicio Del Toro) and Todd Hockney (Kevin Pollak). Who were brought in by the police to be questioned about a crime. Verbal convinces these individuals to pull of a robbery which leads to more than robbery.
As Verbal tells the story he has flashbacks of the robberies. He explains how the five criminals became involved with an evil man by the name of Keyser Soze. The five criminals were to smuggle 91 million worth of cocaine from the boat. This cocaine was to be sold to Soze rival.
Kujan seems to be intrigued by the story Verbal is telling and he believes every word of it. Kujan, is so involved with this story he encourages Verbal to tell more. Verbal tells of a story that explains Keyser Soze character. He goes on to mention how the Hungarian rivals broke into the home of Keyser and rapped his wife and murdered his son but to their surprise Keyser Soze kills his family and the invaders as he could not stand to live with himself after that event.
This particular scene in the movie the lighting and color was enhanced so that you would believe in this evil character described by Verbal. The home was full of colors that are typically seen in Spanish homes. But the colors also helped to enhance the evil in the room. The music helped to intensify the anger of Keyser Soze.
Verbal is enjoying every minute of the manipulation. Verbal goes on to tell how they planned to take the drugs. The criminals planned to take out the crew on deck which was the sellers and the buyers. Keaton, McManus and Hokney attack the sellers and the buyers which they manage to kill most of them. Once the thieves load the ship they find no drugs on board. Hokney, Keaton, and McManus are murdered by a mysterious assailant leaving only Verbal and a severely burned Hungarian.
Verbal a cerebral palsy man sitting in this cluttered office looking pathetic and incapable of bursting a grape has managed to convince Kujan that he is victim throughout this ordeal and Keaton was the mastermind behind the robberies and the boat heist. Keaton was still alive and had faked his death. Keaton has to be Keyser Soze this evil drug dealer who you dared crossed.
Twist, turns, and ultimate manipulation was the theme throughout this entire movie even up to the end of the movie. The director managed to take all elements of the movie and tie back to a jaw dropping ending. The movie will reveal how clever Verbal is at taking his surroundings and convincing others of this elaborate story that tells of crime, murder, deception and manipulation. "The greatest trick the devil ever pulled was convincing the world he didn't exist" (Singer, 1995). This movie is one that you can continue to watch as it will almost for certain turn up something you missed the first time around. The actors selected for this movie was perfect for each character. I would recommend this movie.