cheap-thrill ending

Rating: 7/10 (29 April 2001)

I remember when I was a kid writing stories. If I couldn't think of a good ending, you know what I'd do? Have the main character wake up in a state of heartbeating sweaty relief: Thank god it was only a dream... And you know what? The usual suspects has the exact same type of ending. The reason it is cheap is that this ending could be attatched to any movie whatsoever. There was nothing tying it together with the rest of the entire movie besides maybe a few seconds of Spacey looking at the police corkboard. If you want to do a surprise ending, you need to have evidence throughout the movie to tie it together. Examples are fight club and the sixth sense, regardless of their other merits, they definitely did the surprise ending the right way. You could watch the movie a second time and get have an entirely new experience. All along you're saying, "ohhhhh, I get it now. That's why he did that." Usual Suspects was not a great surprise ending movie, but it did have some respectable dialogue and characters. 7 of 10.