Actors, script, director all present and correct. Excellent.

Rating: 8/10 (6 July 2002)

Bryan Singer is one of a new wave of supremely talented Hollywood directors. The first film that he made a major splash with was 1995's The Usual Suspects. Taking it's title from a quote from the classic movie Casablanca, The Usual Suspects was pigeon-holed on it's release as a Tarantino-esque crime movie. Unfairly as it turns out for while Singer shares Tarantino's morally ambivalent attitude towards crime and criminals there are significant differences between the two directorial styles.

Singer's work with his actors is excellent, drawing top-notch performances from an unlikely cast. Before the film was released Spacey was merely a supporting man, Stephen Baldwin was considered one of the lesser talents from his family, Del Toro was an unknown and Kevin Pollak was thought of as a comic actor first and foremost.
As well as having a superb cast and being really well directed on a small budget, the script is superb, giving the actors more scope to do their excellent work. When Spacey took the Oscar for best supporting actor, and Christopher McQuarrie won for Best Original Screenplay it felt like a vindication for crime movie addicts everywhere. To talk too much of the plot is to murder the film, it really needs to be seen as a fresh experience, with high expectations and a blank mind.