The Usual Suspects

Originally posted to the DMI Review on 3/31/13

Who is Keyser Söze?

by Hunter Isham

        Early on in Bryan Singer's 1995 crime film The Usual Suspects, we are introduced to a Hungarian man, nearly burnt to death, in a hospital bed. A federal agent (Breaking Bad's Giancarlo Esposito) struggles with the language barrier, but the near-dead man shouts one thing the agent can recognize: "Keyser Söze." This name hangs over the rest of the film as a con artist, Roger "Verbal" Kint (Kevin Spacey), is interrogated by federal officer Dave Kujan (Chazz Palminteri), who hopes to gain some insight on a criminal mastermind with whom Verbal had been working. Verbal, waiting to post bail, starts the story from the very beginning.
        Five criminals are brought in for a police lineup, the usual suspects for a crime they all claim they didn't commit, including Verbal and apparent formal criminal Dean Keaton (subject of Kujan's investigation). Upon their release, the five decide to team up to rob a ring of corrupt NYPD officers, a job that makes them hot targets, inspiring a little "vacation" in Los Angeles. Before long, they discover they have entangled themselves in the criminal web of mysterious Keyser Söze. A pretzel would make a fine visual representation of this film's plot, as the story begins at the end, loops back around, and eventually catches up to itself, giving the audience a great deal of information along the way. The twists and turns of this tale, be they the story of Keyser Söze or further endangerment of the "Usual Suspects," are what make this film a worthwhile experience, and to reveal anymore of them would greatly diminish its impact. Screenwriter Christopher McQuarrie earned his Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay with his work on The Usual Suspects, crafting an engaging crime story that has one of the best endings of just about any film out there.
        Bringing McQuarrie's script to life is the great ensemble cast, especially Kevin Pollack, Stephen Baldwin, Benicio del Toro, Gabriel Byrne (as Keaton), and Spacey as the "Suspects." They each bring an individuality to their roles, never once making them seem as just one face among the others. Byrne in particular does a great job of brining some ambiguity to a character our narrator (Verbal) trusts, while Kujan says we should think far less of him. Palminteri brings a nice amount of assuredness and authority to Kujan, making him a trustworthy character even as we sympathize with the crippled, vulnerable Verbal. Spacey, like McQuarrie, earned his Oscar for Supporting Actor, delivering a wonderful performance as a generally weak criminal who gets swept up with his colleagues, and is apparently the only one left to tell the story.
        Spacey's continuous presence throughout the film is a big reason the aforementioned, fantastic ending works, although the entire film leading up to that moment would not be as successful were it not for Bryan Singer's direction. Singer, now famous for his contribution to the superhero genre with his X-Men films and Superman Returns, makes The Usual Suspects a well-oiled storytelling machine that does not release the audience from its grip until it reaches its conclusion. He keeps the film from becoming muddled, while also not playing down to his audience. This is definitely a film that requires your full attention, or else not only will the end not seem clear, but the story's movement from scene to scene would be vague at best. This is smart entertainment that holds you in the palm of its hand until its ready to let go.
        I may make The Usual Suspects sound like one of the better crime films out there, and it is, but those who (like myself) have seen the film before may agree that it loses perhaps just a bit of its spellbinding power on subsequent viewings. Having said that, knowing how the knotted puzzle pieces of the plot fit together makes revisiting this film an interesting game of trying to stay ahead of the story and its clues as they are revealed. Of course, saying a film is a bit less effective the second time around is no reason to avoid it, as The Usual Suspects is quite thankfully the kind of unusual and excellent film audiences deserve to see more often. 9/10