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The Usual Suspects (1995)

Director: Bryan Singer

Average user rating
2 reviews

Movie review

From Time Out Film Guide

This labyrinthine, very well played thriller - a huge improvement on the Bryan Singer's intriguing but awkward debut, Public Access - never lets up. It begins with the explosion of a docked ship, before one of the two survivors goes on to detail, to the cops and the audience, the events of the previous six weeks that led him to the vessel. It's a yarn involving five criminals unwittingly brought together in a police cell due to one thing they have in common: the master criminal Keyser Soze, who may or may not exist...Working from Christopher McQuarrie's marvellously tortuous, colourful script, Singer creates a classy, thought-provoking mystery that is pleasingly old-fashioned (the settings, characters and sassy mood recall Hammett and Chandler) and absolutely modern in the sly, slightly self-conscious play it makes with myth and methods of storytelling.

Author: GA 0000-00-00 00:00:00

Time Out Film Guide


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User reviews of this film

  • Adam said...
    Posted on Jul 29 2009 20:00 I was amazed to learn that one of the best crime / suspense movies of all time was made in 35 days on a budget of just $6m. Having discovered the true story at the end, watching the movie a second time reveals so much more. Also, the cinematography in this movie is beautiful.
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  • Andy S said...
    Posted on Jul 14 2009 10:43 Stunningly brilliant - a great crime caper that hasn't dated a second. The entire cast of fabulous - particularly Spacey, but also Palminteri and Byrne, and even Stephen Baldwin. So good, so funny, so dark, so fantastic, see this film today.
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