Invites Multiple Viewings

Rating: 10/10 (17 January 2012)

Near the end of The Usual Suspects, Kevin Spacey, in his Oscar-winning performance as crippled con man Roger "Verbal" Kint, says, "The greatest trick the Devil ever pulled was convincing the world he didn't exist." This may be the key line in this story; the farther along the movie goes, the more one realizes that not everything is quite what it seems, and what began as a conventional whodunit turns into something quite different.
The Usual Suspects is a neo-noir film written by Christopher McQuarrie and directed by Bryan Singer. It stars Stephen Baldwin, Gabriel Byrne, Benicio del Toro, Chazz Palminteri, Kevin Pollak, Kevin Spacey and Pete Postlethwaite.The film follows the interrogation of Roger "Verbal" Kint, a small-time con man who is one of only two survivors of a massacre and fire on a ship docked at the Port of Los Angeles. He tells an interrogator a convoluted story about events that led him and four other criminals to the boat, and of a mysterious mob boss known as Keyser Söze who commissioned their work. Using flashback and narration, Kint's story becomes increasingly complex.
Expertly shot and edited, The Usual Suspects gives the audience a simple plot and then piles on layers of deceit, twists, and violence before pulling out the rug from underneath.A terrific cast of exciting actors socks over this absorbingly complicated yarn that's been spun in seductively slick fashion by director Bryan Singer.Screenwriter Christopher McQuarrie's tough-guy dialogue gives the ensemble cast every opportunity to shine, and they do in this freshest, funniest and scariest crime thriller to come along since Pulp Fiction.This will definitely tempt the viewer to appreciate it for it stands up under and would definitely invite multiple viewings.