Sometimes A Movie Tries Too Hard

Rating: 4/10 (18 July 2013)

Featuring a convoluted plot that wanders all over the place, I have to admit that in spite of its high rating here, "The Usual Suspects" just didn't take hold of me. As a matter of fact, within about the first 10 minutes I was already finding my mind wandering. I don't mind complicated plot lines when they add to a coherent story, but this story simply wasn't that coherent. Five shady characters meet one night in a police lineup and concoct some sort of criminal scheme. There are then so many twists and turns and so many different angles introduced that I found I simply didn't have the energy to keep up with it all.
Now, most of the cast (most importantly Kevin Spacey as Kint and Gabriel Byrne as Keaton) did a decent enough job on this. They took it seriously; they were believable in their roles. I just honestly felt that those who came up with the story were trying too hard to keep the viewers off balance, with no idea what was coming next, and to do that they came up with a plot that really just didn't flow all that well.
As far as I could see, the greatest strength of the movie came in the last 10 minutes, when the ongoing mystery about the truth about Keyser Soze was finally revealed. (Yes - it does get revealed eventually.) I was glad of this, because it was the one point of an overly-complicated plot that kept me interested. Was this guy real, or was he in fact a piece of fiction? I was glad to see that resolved - and, no, I didn't see the ultimate resolution coming. So, credit for that ending, but the movie as a whole just didn't strike home with me. (4/10)