A good movie, that seems great

Rating: 7/10 (24 October 2005)

The Usual Suspects is a good movie. It has a surprise ending that many people think is so wonderful that it makes the movie one of the greatest of all time (today on IMDb it is rated 4th best of the 90's and 18th best of all time), but these people are wrong.
The movie flows well enough, having decent characters, good acting, and a decent story, though none of these stand out so much that you can't find equal value in at least one movie playing the average week at your local superplex. The main characters are introduced in an interesting enough way, and eventually we learn of the dangerous, sneaky and powerful Keyser Soze. We are to believe, seemingly until the end of the movie, that we do not actually see Soze. We probably expected to, and we saw some of his work, but not actually him. Maybe, having seen many movies with twists before, we have come to suspect the characters we have already met. Soze really could be anyone that isn't dead, it's just up to the writer to choose at this point, although certain characters make for a better story.
Whether we suspect anyone or not, we are told that Soze is one of the characters we have known all along, and we are told why it is him. Perhaps we are surprised, but we think back throughout the movie and see that there is nothing wrong with this, so okay, sure, it's him. Then the movie shows us several things revealing that Soze is not this character, but another character. The choice of the writer to make this character be Soze is a good one, as it's interesting that Soze was talking to the police for the whole movie, that he was thought to be a cripple, etc...
So there you have it, a good movie. But that's not what many think. They think it's absolutely great. I'm not quite sure why. Maybe because the cinematic devices used to reveal Soze's true identity seem so profound. Maybe because many viewers, in only a few minutes, became so completely certain that the first person suggested to be Soze was actually him that later the rug was spectacularly pulled from beneath their feet. Maybe because lots of people just aren't very smart, and can't tell the difference between something pretending to be great and something that's actually great (although everyone has this problem in some subject or another). I just don't think it was that wonderful how the writer left Soze's identity completely open, declared it was one guy, and then said "No, it was another," and it annoys me how this film is seen as so great by so many.
It seems even less great when compared to other (albeit later) films featuring famous surprises. The Sixth Sense (114th all time, 22nd of the 90's) has a story of basically equal quality and originality, but the ending twist is so much better, if only because the viewer's nose was shoved in the truth so many times but wasn't able to smell it. Fight Club (35th all time, 9th of the 90's) is such an incredible movie without the surprise that it seems a shame that so much attention be paid to the twist, which ranks between the twists of The Usual Suspects and The Sixth Sense. Come to think of it, I can even say that I liked the surprising character revelation of American Pie (Hannigan's Character) better than the Usual Suspects' twist. At least it's regarded correctly.
Okay, I can't end on that, so I better summarize/conclude. The Usual Suspects is a good movie with a decent surprise ending, but neither the movie, nor the ending, are near as good as so many believe them to be. I suggest that those who think otherwise should give it some real thought, although it is just a movie.