"One cannot be betrayed if one has no people".

Rating: 10/10 (22 October 2011)

Customs Agent Dave Kujan (Chazz Palminteri) knew he was smarter than Verbal Kint (Kevin Spacey), but didn't fully realize it until it was too late. That's the brilliance of "The Usual Suspects", a film with a twist ending that leaves you shaking your head and going 'Whoa! well past the finale. Here's how I see it -
A lot of comments on this film revile it for being a story that never happened because of the reveal at the end. But that's not really the case. Following the opening scene, the picture flashes back to the police lineup that brought five petty hoods together. Well, three of them were petty; Keaton (Gabriel Byrne) and Verbal Kint are much more than they seem. The emerald heist of the NYPD 'taxi service' and the ripoff of jeweler Saul Berg were real enough events involving the resources of all five criminals to pull them off. Where the story really takes off is with the introduction of Kobayashi (Pete Postlewaithe). From about that point on, and only in retrospect, do we come to understand that Verbal's story telling skills are meant to obfuscate and defy credibility. He follows up with the legend of Keyser Soze, a mythical Hungarian no one has ever seen (except one Arturo Marquez), who's reputation for fierce vengeance has become as legendary as the man himself is ethereal.
That Verbal Kint is a con man is unquestionable. He was pegged with a sixty two thousand dollar swindle at the NYPD lineup, enough to convince McManus (Stephen Baldwin), Fenster (Benicio del Toro) and Hockney (Kevin Pollack) that he was in their league, as long as he could convince Keaton to go along. With the disgraced ex-cop vouching for him, Kint was allowed to mastermind the 'blue and white' emerald heist without anyone getting killed. Then came his increased stature by finishing off Saul Berg during the second job. The idea that details like Redfoot, Kobayashi and the Argentinean drug deal were all made up doesn't detract from the fact that Verbal Kint/Keyser Soze had an agenda. That agenda, all the way at the bottom of the totem pole, was the murder of Arturo Marquez, a character mentioned but never seen, a character who might have known the real identity of Keyser Soze.
So we know Verbal made up a lot of this stuff on the fly. But what about Kujan? In one moment, Kujan tells Verbal that Keaton was Keyser Soze, and a few sentences later says he doesn't know. Did he make up the story about Edie Finneran (Suzy Amis) being killed? Who would have killed her, and for what reason? Most likely Kobayashi if Marquez could identify Soze. The one thing we can come away with is that Verbal Kint, besides being a fake, is a remorseless, relentless killer, who's con man gig is the ultimate con on movie viewers everywhere. Verbal Kint was Keyser Soze, but the blast of it is - there was NO Keyser Soze - and he's become one of the screen's most intriguing characters of all time.