The Usual Suspects (1995) USA
The Usual Suspects Image Cover
Additional Images
Director:Bryan Singer
Studio:MGM (Video & DVD)
Producer:Bryan Singer, Art Horan, François Duplat, Hans Brockmann, Kenneth Kokin, Michael McDonnell
Writer:Christopher McQuarrie
Rating:4.5
Rated:R
Date Added:2007-03-06
Purchased On:2007-06-03
ASIN:B00000K0DT
UPC:0027616780126
Price:$24.98
Awards:Won 2 Oscars. Another 23 wins & 6 nominations
Genre:Suspense
Release:2002-04-01
IMDb:0114814
Duration:106
Picture Format:Widescreen
Aspect Ratio:2.35:1
Sound:Dolby Digital 5.1
Languages:English, Dolby Digital 5.1
Subtitles:Spanish
Features:Full Screen
Letterboxed
Bryan Singer  ...  (Director)
Christopher McQuarrie  ...  (Writer)
 
Stephen Baldwin  ...  Michael McManus
Gabriel Byrne  ...  Dean Keaton
Benicio Del Toro  ...  Fred Fenster
Kevin Pollak  ...  Todd Hockney
Kevin Spacey  ...  Roger 'Verbal' Kint
Chazz Palminteri  ...  Dave Kujan, US Customs
Pete Postlethwaite  ...  Kobayashi
Giancarlo Esposito  ...  Jack Baer, FBI
Dan Hedaya  ...  Sgt. Jeffrey 'Jeff' Rabin
Suzy Amis  ...  Edie Finneran
Paul Bartel  ...  Smuggler
Carl Bressler  ...  Saul Berg
Phillip Simon  ...  Fortier
Jack Shearer  ...  Renault
Christine Estabrook  ...  Dr. Plummer
Clark Gregg  ...  
Morgan Hunter  ...  
Ken Daly  ...  
Michelle Clunie  ...  
Louis Lombardi  ...  
Phillipe Simon  ...  Fortier
Comments: Five Criminals . One Line Up . No Coincidence

Summary: Ever since this convoluted thriller dazzled audiences and critics in 1995 and won an Oscar for Christopher McQuarrie's twisting screenplay, The Usual Suspects has continued to divide movie lovers into opposite camps. While a lot of people take great pleasure from the movie's now-famous central mystery (namely, "Who is Keyser Söze?"), others aren't so easily impressed by a movie that's too enamored of its own cleverness to make much sense. After all, what are we to make of a final scene that renders the entire movie obsolete? Half the fun of The Usual Suspects is the debate it provokes and the sheer pleasure of watching its dynamic cast in action, led (or should we say, misled) by Oscar winner Kevin Spacey as the club-footed con man who recounts the saga of enigmatic Hungarian mobster Keyser Söze. Spacey's in a band of thieves that includes Gabriel Byrne, Stephen Baldwin, Kevin Pollak, and Benicio Del Toro, all gathered in a plot to steal a large shipment of cocaine. The story is told in flashback as a twisted plot being described by Spacey's character to an investigating detective (Chazz Palmintieri), and The Usual Suspects is enjoyable for the way it keeps the viewer guessing right up to its surprise ending. Whether that ending will enhance or extinguish the pleasure is up to each viewer to decide. Even if it ultimately makes little or no sense at all, this is a funny and fiendish thriller, guaranteed to entertain even its vocal detractors. --Jeff Shannon