The Usual Suspects Movie Review 1995

Twisted noir-thriller about some crooks, a $91 million heist, and mysterious crime lord Keyser Soze. Customs agent Kujan (Palminteri) tries to get a straight story out of small-time con man "Verbal" Kint (Spacey) about a burning tanker in the San Pedro harbor, 27 dead bodies, and the other four tempermental criminals involved: ex-cop-turned thief Keaton (Byrne), explosives expert Hockney (Pollak), and hot-headed partners McManus (Baldwin) and Fenster (Del Toro). Nothing is as it seems, and the ending keeps everyone guessing, right up to the final credits. Terrific performances from all complement the intelligent, humorous script. And yes, the title does come from the famous line in "Casablanca."

Distribution

USA Home Entertainment, 1 W. Forest, Englewood, NJ 07631-4004, Phone: (201)871-1000, URL: http://www.polygram-us.com

Available on VHS, DVD
Running time 105 minutes.

Cast and Crew

Genres

Mystery & Suspense, One Last Job, Contemporary Noir, Heists, U.S. Marshals, FBI, Boom!, Flashback, Ex-Cops, Revenge

Screenplay

Christopher McQuarrie

Cast

Louis Lombardi, Kevin Spacey, Gabriel Byrne, Chazz Palminteri, Kevin Pollak, Stephen Baldwin, Benicio Del Toro, Giancarlo Esposito, Pete Postlethwaite, Dan Hedaya, Suzy Amis, Paul Bartel, Peter Greene

Cinematography

Newton Thomas (Tom) Sigel

Director

Bryan Singer

Music

John Ottman

Producer

Bryan Singer, Michael McDonnell, Robert Jones, Hans Brockman, Art Horan, Francois Duplat, Spelling Films International, Gramercy Pictures

Awards

Oscars 1995: Orig. Screenplay, Support. Actor (Spacey); British Acad. 1995: Orig. Screenplay; Ind. Spirit 1996: Screenplay, Support. Actor (Del Toro); Natl. Bd. of Review 1995: Support. Actor (Spacey); N.Y. Film Critics 1995: Support. Actor (Spacey); Broadcast Film Critics 1995: Support. Actor (Spacey).