Cheap The Usual Suspects (DVD) (Gabriel Byrne, Kevin Spacey, Chazz Palminteri) (Bryan Singer) Price

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Customer Reviews of The Usual Suspects

Distictive crime thriller
"The Usual Suspects" is anything but. The whole movie is told by 'Verbal' Kint (Kevin Spacy), the only living witness to a cargo ship explosion that killed several people. Verbal tells a U.S. Customs Agent (Chez Palminteri). It starts a few weeks before, as 'the usual suspects' are rounded up for a bogus robbery charge. It turns out they all unknowingly owe Kieser Soczey, a mysterious, near mythical, underworld crime boss. He makes all the crooks do little jobs for him to eliminate their debt. All the actors give a good performance. Gabriel Byrne is wonderful as the leader, always slimy and smooth at the same time. Stephen Baldwin gives the only good performance of his career. Benrico Del Toro is alright, but this was before he got famous. Kevin Pollak dose well as the only serios bad guy. The plot is smart, and director Bryan Singer makes all the right moves with colors (both New York and Los Angeles have distictive looks), camera angles, and coxes good performances from everyone. This is film noir at it's best.

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DEFINITELY NOT......YOUR "USUAL" MOVIE
"The Usual Suspects" certainly defies pigeon holing or labeling. Its larger-than-life allure results from a seamless blending of elements: Pschodrama, Action, Suspense and Mystery, all built on intricate storytelling, a dynamic screenplay and taught direction, by Bryan Singer. The aforementioned are all bolstered by credible in-depth character development, brought to life by an outstanding cast, who flesh out each role to chilling near perfection. (Kevin Spacey, seen here before most people would have recognized his name, received an Oscar for his "supporting" role!)

But let's not get sidetracked. More than anything else,"SUSPECTS" is about the unparalleled unsettling reaction you get from viewing it! From the first scene to the end credits, it gets a headlock on your psyche, while sending the pit of your stomach into endless free fall! The only way to illustrate this, without giving away any key elements of the film, is a detailed look at the opening scene....a peerless example of instant timeless classic film noir.

On a boat, docked in San Pedro Harbor, the dying sole-survivor of an apparently devastating bloodbath shootout painfully ignites a thin trail of gasoline. His obvious intention: Destroy EVERYTHING...himself included! From a deck higher up, an unseen someone pisses out the trail of flames. The shadowy figure walks down the stairs with an unhurried beliberation and saunters over to the agonizing man he has just saved. They exchange somewhat forced greetings and a few disjointed words of banter.

Without warning, the intruder firmly raises a pistol, his unblinking gaze reflected in eyes locked in contact with his own. Unhesitatingly, he fires two consecutive shots. A brief pause of contemplation ends when he casually lights a cigarette, stategically dropping his lighter to rekindle the liquid fuse, and then beats a hasty off-board retreat.

What better way to introduce a character whose twisted iron resolve is so perverse, so deranged, that he saves a doomed man seconds before certain death, solely for the unmititgated pleasure derived from looking him squarely in the eye, his victim looking right back, while pulling the trigger himself. Without uttering a syllable, his actions shout out,"I piss on you and your puny existence!" His victim's final moments are thusly converted into a living/dying testimony, clearly demonstrating who it is that decides the particulars of when and how he will die!

"SUSPECTS" has been severely critiqued by a vocal minority (to paraphrase another Amazon reviewer) for not knowing the difference between a plot twist and a non sequitur. With all due respect to the reviewer, who painstakingly highlighted the difference for us, perhaps a careful second viewing would shed some light on the source of this common confusion. After watching "SUSPECTS" four times making every effort to employ my most discerning eye, I am convinced the true genius of the movie hinges on this particular point!

Let me underscore my unequivocal recommendation of this film with a special note to those of you who avoid the Action or Suspense genre becuase of your distaste of the excessive violence that generally characterizes them. Well, THIS IS NO JOHN WOO FILM! A lot of the scenes are done in the "Old School" style, where the violence is kept off-screen. Although there is considerable TALK in "SUSPECTS" about some of the most dastardly deeds imaginable, virtually none of this is graphically portrayed. So, PLEASE, if you have not seen it yet, because of this reason, I urge you to make an exception in this case...GET IT AND SEE IT!

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A Masterpiece Especially the Ending!!
Usual Suspects is an excellent well plotted movie. It sent chills down my spine when I realized Kevin Spacey was Kazer Soze. You must see this movie!