Round up "The Usual Suspects"
June 11, 2008 11:44 am action movie
Who is Keyser Soze?
That’s the riddle at the heart of Bryan Singer’s incredibly clever, fun crime flick, “The Usual Suspects.”
As “The Usual Suspects” opens, police are poking through the wreckage of a boat at a San Pedro pier. They discover 27 bodies and two survivors: a badly burned, terrified Hungarian terrorist and a small-time con man named Verbal Kint.
Kint reluctantly tells his story to the cops. As he explains, the whole thing began six weeks earlier with a seemingly unrelated police lineup.
If you’ve already seen “The Usual Suspects,” you know how this tangled web of career criminals, drug deals and gunplay ends. You know the true identity of criminal mastermind Keyser Soze. You’ve solved the riddle.
That’s not the point.
Watching “The Usual Suspects” is an exercise in critical thinking. Like those murder-mysteries beloved of old ladies, “The Usual Suspects” invites you to follow the clues and draw your own conclusions.
The action is well-paced. The dialog is sharp and frequently funny.
Plus, you couldn’t ask for a better lineup of seasoned character actors: Kevin Spacey (earning his first Oscar), Gabriel Byrne, Kevin Pollak, Chazz Palminteri, Pete Postlethwaite and Benicio Del Toro. Even Stephen Baldwin acquits himself nicely.
It’s the perfect modern mystery — even after you know that all-important twist.
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“The Usual Suspects” plays tonight at The Palm Theatre, 817 Palm St. in San Luis Obispo. Showtimes are 7 p.m. and 9:15 p.m.
Tickets are $7.50.
(Local connection: The Usual Suspects is also the name of a local classic rock band.)
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Photo courtesy of MovieWeb.com.
