The Usual Suspects (The Usual Suspects (DVD))

Member Name: carlmcq

Product:	The Usual Suspects (DVD)
Date:	08/06/05 (105 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: That ending...

Disadvantages: Are there any??

A film of which some describe as too clever for its own good, and some describe as a film with one of the most ingenious storylines and finales, not just in a few years, but in cinematic history.

Director Bryan Singer’s crime thriller, who was all but unknown at the time of its release, centres itself around five career criminals (played by Gabriel Byrne, Kevin Spacey, Benicio Del Toro, Kevin Pollak, and Stephen Baldwin) who meet after being rounded up for a standard police line-up. The story is told in a Los Angeles interrogation room by Kevin Spacey’s character, Verbal Kint.

Upon their release, the men join together to pull off an elaborate stunt involving $3 million worth of emeralds. After moving to Los Angeles whilst the coast clears, their success brings them to the attention of the mysterious Keyser Soze; an unseen, somewhat mythical, yet highly notorious underworld crime figure, who through his associate Kobayashi (Pete Postlethwaite) entices them into a deal worth $91 million to them. The story that evolves from this, and its resulting conclusion made The Usual Suspects one of the most talked about and fascinating films in cinema history.

When the storyline was first created via the mind of Christopher McQuarrie, and placed onto paper, film company after film company refused it, quite simply because it was just too clever! But after it was final accepted by PolyGram, it was then just a case of waiting for the inevitable to happen – for it to become a success.

With a cast that at the time couldn’t be described as ‘all-star’, and a budget that restricted them heavily, Singer had a heavy dose of hard work on his hands, but with a script and acting, the likes of which received Academy Awards (Best Original Screenplay/ Kevin Spacey – Best Supporting Actor), Singer need not fear, his work was simplistic.

Some of the more disparaging of us out there, but not me I should point out, may call the film too smart for its own good and that even us as the audience have been made to feel like the fool due to the ending, but in my opinion, with it all rolling into a sucker punch that has mesmerised and even shocked audiences worldwide, doesn’t that epitomise the magic of cinema? In a nutshell, yes.

Just for additional knowledge, the DVD extras are exceptional, and there a few others out there with such depth and interesting features. A real highlight in my mind was the documentary 'Who Is Keyser Soze?', although really, there is no real answer. The Special Edition DVD will obviously cost more, but prices can vary anywhere between 8 and 18 pounds, but I'd quite happily pay any price for cinematography as good as this.

Summary: