Day 48: The Usual Suspects (1995)

Movie #25 – The Usual Suspects (1995) - 106 min, cert 18.

A boat has been attacked at a New York dock. The only survivor is ‘Verbal’ Kint (Kevin Spacey) who is picked up by the police and questioned. He tells a convoluted story about 5 hardened criminals that are gathered together for a police line-up, and how they are forced to work for a mysterious super-criminal called Keyser Soze whose name strikes fear into the hearts of criminals everywhere.

This is an enjoyable film which definitely needs to be watched 2 or 3 times in order to appreciate all the twists and turns in the plot. The ensemble cast is excellent – Kevin Spacey, Gabriel Byrne, Kevin Pollak, Pete Postlethwaite, Stephen Baldwin, Chazz Palminteri & Benicio Del Toro all do well, and there’s a marvelous twist in the end that makes you re-evaluate everything that has gone before.

Score – 9/10, just sneaking into my top ten at no 10.

Next up is The Silence of the Lambs which I’ve seen several times but not for while.