The Usual Suspects
Following a wavefront explosion, in San Pedro Harbor leaving few survivors, an eye-witness and participant tells of the twisty events leading up to a horrific gun battle on a boat.
7 February 1946, Warrington, Cheshire, England, UK
2 April 1962, Boston, Massachusetts, USA
26 April 1958, Copenhagen, Denmark
10 October 1931, Berlin, Germany
1968, Bronx, New York City, New York, USA
19 February 1967, San Germán, Puerto Rico
20 April 1965, Long Beach, California, USA
6 August 1938, Brooklyn, New York, USA
26 July 1959, South Orange, New Jersey, USA
June 18, 2013
Singer, like Tarantino, is less into mining new film themes than in re-inventing old ones. And the way he does so shows full well that there is still a bit of life in the old mob movie yet.
June 18, 2013
It's a film that demands to be watched again and again -- this is good old-fashioned pulp fiction told in the slickest 1990s style.
June 18, 2013
In a season of fat blockbusters, a picture as brainy, bitter, and compact as this one comes as a shock and a treat.
June 18, 2013
Metaphysical mumbo-jumbo? Of course -- but the thrill of The Usual Suspects is that, after years of movie demythologising, it re-mythologises the crime movie.
January 18, 2013
For many true movie fiends, noir is the key American movie type, and the most fun when it's done right. The Usual Suspects is done right.
June 18, 2013
If the pleasures of The Usual Suspects are the more superficial ones of ingenuity and style, those are abundantly available. The twists and turns of the plot are an awful lot of fun, while the ending is genuinely satisfying and surprising.
March 28, 2011
I didn't believe this story for a minute, even in movie terms -- though it's less offensive than a piece of junk like Apt Pupil, Singer's subsequent feature.
June 18, 2013
It's a nerve-shredding suspense movie about corruption, a bravura actor's show full of deliciously twisted cops and robbers, and a complex riddle packed with unexpected turns.
June 18, 2013
It stands up brilliantly to repeat viewing, to the extent that you may never fully solve the riddle. But don't let that put you off; it's the ultimate whodunit.
June 18, 2013
The most attuned devotee of crime mystery will be hard-pressed to guess the outcome of this stylish thriller. It is riddled with machine-gun dialogue and kinky implications at every turn.
June 18, 2013
An imaginative, entertaining crime mystery with plenty of nerve and vigor.
June 18, 2013
Give director Bryan Singer credit for providing a plot that is not resolved by an exchange of gunfire, but don't expect the movie's glib punchline to stay with you for very long.
