A Masterful Crime Thriller

Rating: 10/10 (28 May 1999)

Not only is The Usual Suspects 1995's greatest film, but it is also the 2nd greatest film of the 1990's, next to Saving Private Ryan. It is also one of my top 10 favorite films of all time. It is an exciting, brilliant crime thriller with a powerfully, fascinating, Oscar winning screenplay, on target direction from Bryan Singer, superior ensemble work by the leading cast members, and an excellent suspenseful musical score.
The film is about what happens when five career criminals are brought in for a line up by the NYC cops. They decide to make use of their time by bringing down a few corrupt NYC cops, and then flee to L.A. One of the members' fence gets all five of them hooked up with another job, however they soon become entangled in a deadly mysterious mission organized by an unknown mysteriously evil crime lord who calls himself Keyser Soze, and for the rest of the film the viewer is left on the edge of their seat trying to figure out who this mysterious Keyser Soze is.
Another bonus for this film is the acting. Gabriel Byrne gives an excellent performance as the hardened career criminal trying to go straight, or is he? But, the film really belongs to Kevin Spacey in an Oscar winning role as the talkative cripple, Verbal Kint.
Nothing is quite as it may seem in this mesmerizing crime thriller masterpiece, and if you love crime film as much as I do, then The Usual Suspects is a must see.