Nothing usual about these suspects (The Usual Suspects (DVD))

Member Name: belglen

Product:	The Usual Suspects (DVD)
Date:	13/09/09 (43 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Intriguing, good pace

Disadvantages: Violence

Saturday night for my husband and me usually consists of trying to get the kids to bed at a decent hour so we can have some couple time. This normally consists of a pizza, a bottle of wine and watching the telly, my husband suggested a DVD for a change and he chose The Usual Suspects. I am not a film buff so don't claim to know lots about genre, acting and directing, I normally wouldn't choose anything too violent or with a complicated plot but this was my husband's choice.

I had watched The Usual Suspects previously but to be honest couldn't remember too much about it although certain parts were very memorable. This film is 18 rated and rightly so, there are some scenes of violence and strong language throughout, however it has an excellent plot and great cast. The film stars:
Gabriel Byrne
Stephen Baldwin
Chazz Palminteri
Kevin Pollak
Kevin Spacey
Suzy Amis
Benicio Del Toro
Giancarlo Esposito
Pete Postlethwaite.
My husband reckons that any film that has Pete Postlethwaite will be worth watching.

Now this was my husband's choice of film but I wouldn't say it was a "man's film", I can honestly say that I thoroughly enjoyed the film and would recommend it to anyone. I am not going to say very much about the plot of the film or how the story runs but be prepared for some surprises and twists along the way. The film lasts 102 minutes so is quite short but it is jam packed with substance and action intertwined. The plot is intriguing but not too demanding, your head doesn't hurt from thinking too hard about what is happening. Perhaps this is what I liked most about the film, the fact that you became engrossed but you did not have to concentrate too hard to enjoy it, I found that the acting was so good that I just travelled along with the characters and the story.

The film is based around a group of criminals who all have a connection but are unaware of this, they are all held together by the New York police and then the story starts to entwine the characters. The criminals agree to become involved in a job and this leads them to Los Angeles were things really start to happen. The film opens at the end of the story and is then based on a series of flashbacks and narrations but this does not become confusing, it is handled very well by the director and scriptwriters. The ending of the film is excellent and does keep you intrigued right up to the end, it is a film with much violence but I never felt it was too much or too gruesome, there is also a lot of dialogue but interesting to follow the characters. The overall effect is to intrigue the viewer, you want to know more and as the film goes on you really get drawn in and want to know more about the mysterious never seen but much talked about Kaiser Soze.

We watched a DVD version of the film, there were some extras, an audio commentary with the director and producer. I didn't check out the special features so can't comment on them.

Summary: A very enjoyable film with many twists