crime classic is not good just for its great ending

Rating: 10/10 (19 June 1999)

"The Usual Suspects", in the words of one reviewer, like good wine, improves with time. Time meaning repeated viewings. In my case, that means about 17 times. However, I believe too many people do this to look for clues which hint towards the 'answer.' Not to say I didn't do this too, but the ending does NOT make the movie, and the excellent direction and editing by Bryan Singer and John Ottman respectively, along with the performances should be 'studied' as well in repeat viewings. Without giving away the ending, I'll try to explain. Singer does an incredible job balancing between the present and past so that the dialogue-based film (with little action at all in all present scenes) never seems long-winded. I've read Christopher McQuarrie's final script and read articles about the film, and Singer edited the script well so the film keeps its fast pace. His direction is especially good in the famous 'revealing' scene. Singer is credited by McQuarrie for thinking of using earlier dialogue combined with camera shots for maximum effect and density of ideas. And there are some great "low shots" (those who've seen it know what I'm talking about). Ottman edited this sequence beautifully , along with other scenes, especially on the pier. Though I've taken some credit away from McQuarrie's Oscar Winning script, I still love it. He keeps the very large cast of characters multi-dimensional (Tarentino and Altman are two of the very few who did it better in other films). The conversations between Spacey and Palminteri are awesome, ("And like that... he's gone" "the greatest trick the devil ever pulled was convincing the world he didn't exist") and of course the story is incredible. Last, I saw this at first because it had Kevin Spacey and it had good reviews, so naturally when I re-watch it I really appreciate his layered, multi-emotioned, Oscar-winning performance. The casting of comedic actors in the three supporting criminals, especially Del Toro, who is great, is effective. Byrne and Palminteri give great performances. British actor Pete Polstelthwaite gives my favorite, and most memorable performance of the chilling Kobayashi. If you haven't seen it do so, if you have, do the same.