It All Makes Sense When You Look At It Right - You Gotta Stand Back From It, Y'Know ?

Rating: 8/10 (20 May 2010)

Five professional criminals meet when they are pulled on a trumped-up charge into a police lineup in New York City. They plot a revenge job which goes well, but are then blackmailed by a shadowy figure, Keyser Söze, into hijacking a big drugs buy. Is Söze for real, and if so, what is his secret agenda ?
In my view, The Usual Suspects is the best crime thriller of the nineties and one of the very best gangster movies ever made. Perhaps what's most astonishing about it is the confidence and style of director Singer and writer Christopher McQuarrie, both of whom had only made one feature film before (the low budget Public Access). The movie was made independently and for pretty meagre money but looks sensational, has a deliciously harebrained mind-bending plot, truckloads of fancy-pants dialogue ("Now you talk to me, or that precious immunity they seem so fit to grant you won't be worth the paper the contract put out on your life is printed on."), an elegant and stylish atmosphere, and a payoff of such witty proportions that I guarantee you will never forget it. Most movies, if they're well made, have maybe two or three really interesting characters in them - this one has at least eight, and every crazy situation they're thrown into brings out all of their intriguing facets. Why did Keeton reform ? Who is Kobayashi, and does he even exist ? Why is McManus such a hothead ? What is Fenster saying ? And of course, is Verbal really who we think he is ? These characters dance around each other in such variable and complex circles that just when you think you've got a handle on things the movie pulls the rug out from under you again. Repeated viewings only enhance the delicious enjoyment of this, and the entire cast seem to peg exactly the tone Singer is going for. Spacey is simply unforgettable (watch his eyes as he reads the cue card in the lineup) and won an Academy Award, Byrne is a supercool bad apple, Del Toro gives an amazing, career-making, what-in-the-hell-was-that physical performance, and Palminteri takes the standard cop exposition part and revs it up so high it shifts the entire movie up a gear. Another crucial element is the combination of the equally brilliant score and editing, both by John Ottman. The link between music and cutting is vital in any film, and how many professional movies have it done by the same person (aside from Ottman's work with Singer, John Carpenter's Assault On Precinct 13 is the only other example I can think of). There is a delicious tap-tap-tap suspense score with heavy strings which ticks along like a pressure cooker, and pares everything to the tense minimum; the action scenes are taut and fast, and Ottman carefully reserves a few choice moments to take his time, like the scene where Verbal shoots the jewel dealer. The movie is a textbook in good editing for pacing, atmosphere and suspense. There are some films which just seem to gel together seamlessly and this is one - it's a gleefully evil flick, hand crafted with loving care by and for those who love crime stories and gangster pictures. McQuarrie (who was twenty-seven) deservedly won an Academy Award for his script; Singer (a ripe old thirty) should have won as well - the two have since teamed again on Valkyrie. Trivia - the memorable title comes from a throwaway line in Casablanca.