Sometimes a movie really surprises you, really blows you away for some reason. I saw ’’The Usual Suspects’’ not really expecting anything interesting. Well, I was wrong. Instead I got to see a terrifically exciting movie featuring outstanding acting and a plot twist that actually caught me by surprise.
The plot? Following a bloody shoot-out aboard a ship moored at a Santa Monica pier, the police question a hood by the name of Verbal Kint in an attempt to learn about what happened. We see several different possibilities and the final answer we get is a real surprise.
Typically movies rely upon special effects, khandala ghat highway kind of plot twists, and brand-name casting to get the job done. ’’The Usual Suspects’’ relies on an excellent script, good direction and wonderful acting from people who arent people we’ve remotely heard of. Look at this cast- Stephen Baldwin, Kevin Pollack, Benicio Del Toro, Gabriel Byrne, Kevin Spacey, Chazz Palminteri, Dan Hedaya, and Pete Postlethwaite. Though they arent famous they have some serious acting talent to exhibit. They all are great, but in particular Gabriel Byrne (Dean Keaton) and Kevin Spacey (Verbal Kint) deliver exceptional performances. Neither man is quite who they seem to be. Spacey won a well-deserved Oscar for his performance in this film.
Director Brian Singer does a brilliant job coaxing terrific acting performances from his cast. This was a tought movie to make and he pulled it off in spades.
Go see ’’The Usual Suspects’’ and find out why it is on top of the list of my favorite films