Worth Watching<<
Rating: Null/10 (2 March 2002)

Film Review
This film was by a relatively unknown director called Bryan Singer, who directed other films like X-Men, the science fiction classic of 2000. However, the relative anonymity of the director did not in any way hamper the popularity or the acclaim of the film. In many ways, the style is very similar to Tarantino's films, in that the film does contain many violent scenes, and is in many ways a look at the less shiny acclaimed side of petty crime. However, there is one crucial difference: in Tarantino's films violence is both society and media is explored in a very similar way to Stanley Kubrick, while in this film, violence is used as a dramatic device, i.e. to present the audience with visually impressive scenes. The story is seemingly simplistic, and is, in a break from cinematic tradition, told via the medium of a narrator, who narrates through the action, with frequent cuts back to him as a frame of reference. However, the use of a narrator does not hamper the action, instead it highlights the events you see taking place.
The film is based entirely on audience expectation. A mystery is presented to us, then unravelled, but, before the final piece is in place, it shatters every thing the audience thought they knew or understood. This makes it an unusual film, as twist endings, though fairly common, are never truly effective, except in certain films, and those all follow a specific formula, e.g. Hitchcock's Psycho, among others sets up a murder where the culprit is obvious, then proceeds to make you realise that nothing is really as it seems. The murderer is someone completely different, and the confidence built up in the audience is quite abruptly shattered. The very same idea is behind The Usual Suspects. The story told seems consistent, and seems true, but there are little details. Then, when all is revealed, you feel shocked, and almost tricked, but not in a bad sense. It has been said by many classical directors that a twist ending is shallow, and fake, and is not the true ending for a film which uses a mystery as a plot device. I do not necessarily agree with this view. While it is true that many films which use twist endings are quite bad: The sixth sense is an example, some of the best films have been made thanks to them, like the fairly recent film Memento, whose twists are fascinating.