The BEST Movie Climax Ever

Rating: Null/10 (29 November 2001)

Contains Spoilers The best twist ending ever put on film. I grew up watching Alfred Hitchcock, Twilight Zone, Outer Limits, Ray Bradbury, The Hitchhiker, The Hunger, and any film or TV show of that genre. I can usually spot the twist coming long before it happens (I guessed the endings for The Sixth Sense in 22 minutes and Unbreakable in under an hour). The Usual Suspects totally blind-sided me.
Kevin Spacey deserved the Academy Award he received for best Actor for this portrayal crippled con man Roger 'Verbal' Kint. Verbal spins an intricate story, involving a powerful all star cast, that keeps you on the edge of your seat until the ending knocks you off your chair. I went to the theater 4 times and then purchased a copy of the movie. I have seen it a total of 59 times and I still can not connect all the dots as to what is real, what is a fabrication, who knew what and when they knew it.
If you are tired of the same old rehashed plot lines on the big screen you MUST buy this movie. It is not a breath of fresh air. It is a 450 mph -50 artic tornado hitting you full in the chest on a scorching hot August afternoon.
Here are a few examples of the questions I am have been dealing with. Even after all these viewing I have still come to no concrete conclusions.
The simplest of which is who is Keyser Soze?
Verbal tells a compelling story that the audience believes right up to the end, but Verbal admits he was in "County (jail). I was in for fraud." and Kobayashi (Pete Postlethwaite) tells the group "One of Mr. Soze less than intelligent couriers was taken in a complicated confidence scam by a cripple." Verbal makes a life out of telling believable stories in order to bend people to his will. Other than the Police line up and the boat explosion did anything else really happen? Maybe the rest of the team (Dean Keaton (Gabriel Byrne), Fred Fenster (Benicio Del Toro), Todd Hockney (Kevin Pollak), Michael McManus (Stephen Baldwin)) are alive, have split the money and are hiding out in Canada. Hey its Verbal's story, is it true or another con job?
Or is Verbal blowing a smoke screen to get out of prosecution? Agent Jack Baer (Giancarlo Esposito) gives a clue "A hex sign to keep people from f**king with you back when a name meant something." After meeting Kobayashi, Keaton says, "The guy is a pipe dream. This Kobayashi is using him for window dressing" or is Verbal using the Soze legend for window dressing.
Is Kobayashi really Keyser Soze and is Verbal one of his cronies? The only person who ever saw Kobayashi and is still alive is Verbal. If you believe Verbal's story. Did the pool room meeting ever take place? Edie Finneran (Suzy Amis) cannot be asked if she worked for Kobayashi on the extradition proceeding.
Soze is not Dean Keaton (Gabriel Byrne), he's dead right.?. Is Keaton still alive and Verbal is lying to the cops to throw them off the scent? Do Verbal and Kobayashi actually work for Keaton?
If you figure it all out let me know. One thing I do know is that if I ever meet Christopher McQuarrie (who rightly received the Academy Award for best screenplay) I will give him such a slap for making me think so hard. Never before (or since) have I ever put so much thought into a film.