Great until the surprise ending

Rating: 6/10 (24 July 2008)

This movie is a very, very stylish crime drama, with great acting and wonderful dialogue. Dialogue in the David Mamet class, really. And the acting, wow, just look at this great cast, and everyone is at the top of his game.
But the weakness is that all this great stuff is subordinated to a very tricky surprise ending. The first time you see this movie, the ending seems wonderful and delightful, if a bit jarring and confusing. But when you watch the second time, trying to put all the pieces together in the light of the ending, well, it just doesn't work.
I just wonder why, among all the critics and lovers of this movie, no one ever points out that the revelation at the end makes no sense. Are we supposed to believe that Verbal Kint made up that long, complex story on the spot, incorporating words visible in the agent's office? That he looked at the bottom of the coffee cup and just chose the name Kobayashi on the spot? That the whole, elaborate story was an extended ad lib?
Absurd. And who killed Edie, and why? The ending is less satisfying every time I see it, but the dialogue, acting, and bravura filming are all still terrific. But they are diminished by diminished by the ending's gross illogic.