The Usual Suspects (1995) Dir: Bryan Singer
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This 1995 Bryan Singer directed crime thriller is one I've wanted to watch for about ten years, and recently I was finally able to do so. By now I knew the film's famous twist, although I did not knew how it would be revealed, nor did it ruin my viewing experience in all honesty.
The story is excellently crafted and bleeds suspense profusely. The characters feel pretty believable and unique, thanks in no small part to the abundance of strong performances from the cast.
The soundtrack doesn't often get talked about for this film, but I really think it was a pivotal piece of the puzzle that made the story so much more tense.
The frustrating thing about watching a film featuring the disgraced actor Kevin Spacey is that, more often than not, he gives an incredible performance. This was undeniably the case here too, but his real world behaviour will always leave a sour taste in my mouth when he appears on-screen.
Gabriel Byrne was great in his co-starring role - he helped sell the mystery of the film hugely, and was one of the best casting choices in the film, in my view.
Stephen Baldwin was another to give a really solid performance, and had some particularly good emotional outbursts. I almost wish he had a little more screentime, honestly. Similarly,
Benicio del Toro deserved more time on-screen than he had. I thought he was one of the most interesting characters, and it was a shame to see him be a little bit of a background character. I will also give plenty of credit to the performances of Chazz Palminteri, Kevin Pollack, Pete Postlethwaite, Giancarlo Esposito and Dan Hedaya.
Overall, I'd say this is a brilliant mystery that had some very intriguing twists and superb acting performances. Sure, it did feel a little predictable, but I can't say for certain how much of that is knowing the twist already and how much was just legitimately predictable. That aside, this was a really good crime film that was well worth my time.
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