Movie Club: The Usual Suspects

Community Introductions & Off Topic
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WELCOME EVERYBODY TO THE LATEST DISCUSSION THREAD OF THE NEW MOVIE CLUB. A big thanks to everyone that are joining us through all of this.

This week we’re covering the 90s classic The Usual Suspects.

Remember any ideas for films to discuss are most welcome, and should be made on the Movie Club Introduction thread (the sticky one), and anyone is welcome to add their thoughts about movies already discussed on their respective threads.

Just a friendly reminder to everyone that, whilst fans are obviously welcome to passionately discuss and give their views on these movies, please remember to keep things on a friendly footing and respect your fellow posters.
Also, please do not post where or how to find the full movie online. And do not post asking others to PM it to you. You are however allowed to watch the movie in whatever manner you want.

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I really did not like this movie and I have very little to say about it.
The plot is very boring and uninteresting and the ending was very predictable.
The characters are also bland, unlikeable and uninteresting.
Not a fan of some of the main actors or the director.
A very tedious film.

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Who is Kyzer Soze?!

I first saw The Usual Suspects around 2004-ish, not long after I got my first DVD player. The film had a “cult” following at that point, so I had heard about the film for years before actually seeing this. However, I intentionally stayed away from spoilers prior to seeing the film, because I wanted to genuinely be surprised.

And, I felt the movie was superb - one of the best '90’s films ever. Great characters & storyline. And, everything is leading up to the shocking ending - something I never saw coming the first time I saw this. Great actors as well, including Chazz P., Spacey, Benicio Del Toro (in an early role), the late Pete Postlethwaite, etc.

This is one of those films that will not surprise you after you see it the first time. However, I actually enjoy this more on subsequent viewings because I’m paying more attention to details.

SPOILER BELOW - I don’t know how to hide text in this thread re: spoilers:

The final scene when Verbal Kent (Spacey) is walking down the street & slowly loses his obvious limp…and then goes to the car where Kobayashi (Pete P.) is waiting for him…is one of the best endings in cinema.

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This may contain spoilers.

This film is gripping. It’s one of those films that you don’t watch very often because it does drain the viewer, but it’s worth it when you do. Also only watching it occasionally won’t spoil it. I hadn’t seen it in a few years, and when I saw the special edition DVD in a charity shop late last year I decided it was high time I added it to my collection as I don’t think I’d seen it since I moved up north.

It’s a bit like The Shawshank Redemption in that regard but without the feelgood ending. Mind you, the ending to this film is no less effective. Sure, we have our suspicions early on that this particular twist will happen but it’s presented so well that it doesn’t matter. Sure, we saw it coming, but Kujan didn’t, and how that is conveyed is pitch-perfect. And more importantly, we might guess whodunnit but we don’t have a clue why until the end. And that’s what this film is all about. Not who, but why - why did that explosion happen?

I’m not that familiar with most of the cast, I don’t think I’ve seen many of them in anything else, apart from Pete Postlethwaite (naturally as he’s British I’ve seen him on British TV a fair bit), also Dan Hedaya (he’s been in plenty from Cheers to the first Addams Family movie) and Gabriel Byrne was D’Artagnan in The Man In The Iron Mask just a couple of years later (more faithful to the book than I was expecting, albeit still with issues!). Indeed the first time I saw it Postlethwaite was the only name I’d heard of.

Obviously I now know Kevin Spacey was a big name right up until you-know-what, but let’s not dwell on that. His performance here is gripping, and rightly recognised by the Oscar he won for it. Nor was he the only one to win an Oscar for this film, writer Christopher McQuarrie won one for Best Original Screenplay, also well deserved.

There are some great lines in this film. Mostly talking about the mythical power of Keyser Soze:

“The greatest trick the devil pulled was convincing people he didn’t exist.”
“How do you shoot the devil in the back? What if you miss?”
“I don’t believe in God but I’m afraid of him.”

It’s one of those films that you watch once and then watch again to appreciate things you didn’t spot the first time, and then again when you feel you’ve got it sussed - and you still spot things you missed. And again the third time, and so on.

Fantastic film.

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