Is it real or is it Memorex?

Rating: 9/10 (8 July 2003)

Movies, as other art forms, can manipulate us in ways that we would not be manipulated in real life. Such is the intent of 'The Usual Suspects', and it is a real disappointment in the final analysis. Basically, the last few minutes of the movie are saying to us: "we tried to dupe you into believing all of this is true, but now you have to go back, watch the whole thing again, and differentiate between realty and a fantasy story as told by a twisted, compulsive-lying, self-perceived genius".
But when you watch the whole thing again, you (at least if you are remotely analytical) realize that the vast majority of the movie up to the last few minutes is the fantasy story as told by the twisted self-perceived genius, and only a small portion is realty. So you come to understand that only the small portion that is reality can be believed and that the entire rest of the movie that is the recollection of the twisted self-perceived genius is most likely a big LIE. But then so many people love this movie that I suppose the vast majority of us enjoy getting duped.
But ask yourself this: what would you think if, at the end of The Shawshank Redemption, Andy Dufresne woke up next to his wife and said to her "Honey, you won't believe the dream I just had. It was a dream, wasn't it?" And she just lay there motionless not saying anything. And you wonder - was it real or was it Memorex?
Well, do you get it now? Probably not.