Random Film of the Week: The Usual Suspects

At the helm: Bryan Singer
The players: Gabriel Byrne, Stephen Baldwin, Kevin Spacey, Benicio Del Toro, Kevin Pollak
The year: 1994

It all starts with a line-up, and you know from the very beginning that one of these five guys is going to screw over the other four. Who could it be, the hard-edged leader with a heart of gold, the grease-monkey angry at the world, the trigger-happy nut job, the Spanglish-speaking smooth operator, or the quiet cripple. It's all about your power of observation, a theme that runs rampant throughout the film.

Bryan Singer's classic mystery taunts it audience, daring them to try and figure out who the villain really is. The villain comes in the form of Keyser Soze, a mythical butcher used as a spook story for criminals everywhere. The police can't exactly prove that he exists, but they can't exactly prove that he doesn't exist either. However, when his name pops up through the grapevine in a drug deal gone bad, the only person with any chance of knowing his identity is a crippled con-man played by Spacey. The film chronicles the story of five well known criminals leading up to their last fateful job together, and the aftermath that ensues.

What I like most about this movie is that it makes you feel involved, you get a brief dossier and sketch of every single character, and you have the opportunity to try and work it all out before the cops on screen do. From the beginning you know what happens. A cloaked figure descends upon one of the main characters and puts two bullets in his head. You see that the figure smokes, speaks clear English, holds his gun at a funny angle, and that his victim recognizes him. From there it's on you to figure it out. But let me say that it's hard to see the truth coming, little things peak you attention, but in the end it's just a distraction for the mind-blowing twist.

The film's got a great cast. Gabriel Byrne, post pea-soup vomit. Stephen Baldwin, about the time he was going batshit crazy, so his role wasn't much of a stretch. Finally Kevin Spacey, who got an Oscar for his role, and a deserved one at that. Spacey really sells the likability of his criminal character.

What kills this movie, as with most whodunits is it's replay value. Once you find out who Keyser Soze really is, it trumps the need for repeat watching, and if it doesn't do that, it at least robs it of its appeal. Not to say that it isn't a great film in its own right, but movies with gimmicks, like a big mystery and reveal, lose steam fast.

All in all though you can't beat some of the classic scenes in this movie, the line-up is probably one of the most ingenious ways of introducing characters and their personalities.