Amazing

Rating: 10/10 (14 April 2012)

"How do you shoot the devil in the back, what if you miss?". The Usual Suspects, a 1995 crime thriller, stars Kevin Spacey, Chazz Palminteri, Benicio del Toro, Gabriel Byrne, Stephen Baldwin, Kevin Pollak and Pete Poselthwaite. The film takes place after a boat, supposedly containing a large amount of illegal drugs, has been destroyed. Verbal Kint (Spacey) is the one survivor and the film follows Kint telling his story to Dave Kujan (Palminteri), a US customs agent, beginning with five crooks in a police line-up (Del Toro, Pollak, Byrne, Baldwin and Spacey).
The Usual Suspects is an exhilarating, original and suspenseful film for a number of reasons. Firstly, the screenplay is one of the most original and greatest of the last 25 years (Christopher McQuarrie won an Oscar for his efforts), with dialogue and characters that shouldn't be underestimated. Secondly, all the actors are amazing in their roles of completely varying sides of the spectrum. Spacey won an Oscar for Best Supporting Actor, whilst the cast won the NBR award for best ensemble cast and Del Toro won Best Supporting Male at the Independent Spirit Awards. Spacey garnished a number of other awards for his contribution. Thirdly, Singer directs the film with intelligence and innovation, a rare quality for a director in just his second feature film. John Ottman performs the unusual double of music and editing, both of which add to the suspense and mystery of the film.
In conclusion, the film is an excellent one for all lovers of cinema. While it may be difficult to understand the elaborate plot, you should not be put off by this. The film has an R rating in the US and an MA rating in Australia, however, it should be suitable for children above 13 as the violence is not too graphic.