Nothing is what it seems... Review on Usual Suspects Movie

Since Qayamat left me in a state of shock, I picked up movies that could really rejuvenate me. I will be reviewing them at my own pace, so that the community that shared my sorrow also gets to partake in my joy.

The Usual Suspects:

“Last Night”:

A bomb blast on a ship leaves behind a lot of dead Hungarians, a huge consignment of Cocaine, one very badly injured Hungarian and a key witness – Roger “Verbal” Kint (Kevin Spacey).

“Present Day”:

Begins with the bringing in of Kint for the purpose of interrogation and a good part of the movie is told in flash backs as Kint narrates the incidents that lead to the bomb blast to the investigating officer David Kujan (Chazz Palminteri) who is keen to nail one ex-cop turned criminal Keaton (Gabriel Byrne) and is trying to get anything from the interrogation of Kint that will help him pin Keaton.

“Six weeks earlier”:

Five suspects including Keaton and Kint are lined up in connection with a hijacking of a truckload of guns. As they sit in waiting in their detention room, they plan to payback the cops by pulling off an emerald heist (remember Kaante??) which will put at least 50 cops in trouble. Keaton though initially unwilling (he is trying to straighten out), accepts to be a part of the gang. While the actual “job” itself goes of smoothly the gang runs into an unexpected trouble in the form of Keyser Soze- a maniac of a crime lord, who killed his own wife and children, just to prove a point to his rivals. He is someone who neither the cops nor the criminals would like to rub off in the wrong way. There is this mysterious air around Keyser, as no one seems to have actually seen him, he usually communicates through Mr. Kobayashi (Pete Postlethwaite) an equally mysterious character.

From here on in, the plot thickens, oscillating between the flashbacks, the present day interrogation of Kint and interrogations that involve amongst others the one with the badly injured Hungarian, who is just coming out of shock of having seen the ''DEVIL''.

The performances:

One of the many highlights of this movie is its performances. Gabriel Byrne and Palminteri are extremely believable in their roles. Some neat stuff also comes in the form of Stephen Baldwin, Benicio Del Toro, Kevin Pollak as the three other members of the gang. The character played by Del Toro is a Latino and speaks with an incredible accent (I needed to turn on the subtitles for some scenes as I could not follow his lines) but also has the most humorous of the dialogues. But it is Kevin Spacey as “Verbal” – a deformed and handicapped small time crook, who steals the show. As he mentions in the movie, he is called “Verbal” due to his penchant for non-stop chatter. Also his mannerisms and dialogue delivery are brilliant. It is also vital from the point of view of the movie that he does well, as it is he who is the narrator for most part of the movie. He, I must say truly deserved the Oscar (for best supporting actor) for this performance.

The Technicalities:

The director Bryan Singer has done a terrific job with this one. The narration is slick, the movie is cleverly packaged, in the sense that there are enough hints thrown around so that when you reach catch that “real twist” at the climax, you keep wondering as to how you missed the obvious for all this while. There are times when you can clearly see the influences from another cult movie “Reservoir Dogs” (I guess should review that one too) but then I would not consider that as a negative.

The Screen writer Christopher McQuarrie’s,, work will keep the audience guessing till the very last scene and as the credits roll up you cannot help the feeling of having been taken for a ride, by masterful story telling. Add to this the fact that the movie is wickedly funny; the writer in my opinion has done a neat job. No wonder the film bagged the Oscar for best original screenplay. The photography is slick and captures the mood brilliantly and ditto for the background score.

Editing is of paramount importance, for a movie that is told in a non-linear fashion (as in oscillating between past and the present) and John Ottmandoes that with élan.

Overall verdict:

Brilliant with a capital “B”, I have not yet met a person who has seen “The Usual Suspects” and not liked it. This is one entertainer that has almost everything associated with gangster movies – action, humor, thrills, suspense and of course a very big surprise at the end of it all. A word of caution how ever, the dialogues maybe a little bit offensive but then I guess it as part and parcel of the movies with such a theme. Let me leave you with a punch line from the movie that will have you wondering (about its real meaning) after the movie is over –

“The greatest trick the devil ever pulled was convincing the world he didn’t exist.”