Simply Amazing

Rating: 9/10 (19 January 2010)

This film should be 15 years by now but I recently watched it again yesterday evening on TV and the impact was still the same.Simply put, "The Usual Suspect" is one of the most amazing films in cinematic history. Few films with such entertainment value that I can compare with TUS include the Shawshank Redempion, the Godfather(without the twist),Gladiator etc.This film is a classic which spawned a lot of mediocre "twist" movies such as Basic, Hide & Seek, etc.
From the opening scenes of the corpses on a burning boat to the last astonishing scene, the film grabs you and never lets you go.
Bryon Singer has never directed such a better movie since and here, he did a masterful job. All the actors gave powerful performances but the outstanding ones were Chazz Palmenteri, Kevin Spacey and Gabriel Bryne. Of course, Bryne is one of the most intense and yet underrated actors who would have been my preferred choice as the amnesiac assassin in the Jason Bourne series.
I heard Al Pacino turned down the role played by Chazz due to a scheduling conflict. A great loss but Chazz still held his own and gave a wonderful performance.
But the person deserves the most credit is the screenplay writer, Christopher McQuarrie. How he could conceive such a simple and yet convoluted plot is beyond my comprehension. What inspired him? I recommend the film to suspense lovers. Its truly a classic.