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The Usual Suspects , 1994
English, Hungarian, Spanish, French
USA, Germany
Plot
Director Bryan Singer's labyrinthine crime drama centers on 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. Upon their release, the men band together to pull off an intricate heist involving $3 million worth of emeralds. Their success brings them to the attention of the enigmatic Keyser Soze, an unseen, nefarious, and mythic underworld crime figure who coerces them into pulling off an important and highly dangerous job. The scenes that follow make THE USUAL SUSPECTS one of the most fascinating crime thrillers in cinema history.
Working from the Oscar-winning screenplay by Christopher McQuarrie, Singer adroitly tells the complex story through flashbacks, cross-cutting, and voice-over narration. Such nimble handling of the intricacies of the nonlinear narrative adds to the suspense, leaving viewers on the edge of their seats until the clever, satisfying finale. Singer's expertise in the technical aspects of filmmaking--his use of a dioptic filter to keep two close-up faces in focus, as well as his inventive use of six-frame step printing--helped him earn his reputation as a visually impressive and stylish director. Filled with excellent performances from veteran actors (Kevin Spacey won his first Academy Award for his breakthrough role as Verbal Kint), THE USUAL SUSPECTS placed Singer squarely on the cinematic map.
Details
| Language: | English, Hungarian, Spanish, French |
| Country: | USA, Germany |
| Release date: | 16 August 1995 |
| Runtime: | 106 min |
| Awards: | Academy Awards |
Awards
Cast and Crew
as Dean Keaton
as Roger 'Verbal' Kint
Photos
Clips

Critics Reviews
Variety
The Usual Suspects is an ironic, bang-up thriller about the wages of crime. A terrific cast of exciting actors socks over this absorbingly complicated yarn that's been spun in a seductively slick fashion by director Bryan Singer.
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- by: Todd McCarthy
The Globe and Mail (Toronto)
The Usual Suspects filled me with a highly unusual urge - to be a true "reviewer," to rewind the projector and figure out this humdinger once and for all.
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- by: Rick Groen
Users Reviews
The story was ordinary, and inconsistent. The main theme was never fully fleshed out. The twist at the end was obvious, I saw it coming 20 minutes before the end. I couldn't really see it coming any sooner, because the story changed direction...
- 23.March.2009
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- by: IronHawke
- IronHawke rated this movie
0/10
This movie was simply ok. I'm one of those people who was just annoyed by the twist ending, rather than wowed. I won't go into detail about why I didn't like it, since that would require the use of spoilers, but suffice it to say, the ending ruined...
- 22.March.2009
- |
- by: coolerking
- coolerking rated this movie6/10Okay
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