Five Crinimals. One line-up. No coincidence.
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This week's movie is one of my absolute favorites. "The Usual Suspects". This movie is what first made me realize what an incredible actor Kevin Spacey is. It also made me realize the importance of a good cinematographer.
HISTORY:
It was while waiting in line to see another of the 1993 entrants that screenwriter Chris McQuarrie, who co-wrote "Public Access" with Bryan Singer, told a friend that he wanted to write a film called "The Usual Suspects," wherein five criminals meet in a police line-up. "We even came up with a concept for the poster," recalls the writer. McQuarrie discussed the idea with Singer and several months later, when another project the pair was working on grew in size beyond that which they wanted to achieve with their second film, Singer remembered "The Usual Suspects" and raised the possibility of doing it with McQuarrie. "I said, 'Sure, let's make that one,'" said McQuarrie. "We already have the poster!"
PLOT:
A boat, believed to have $91 million in cocaine on board, is docked at a pier in San Pedro, just south of L.A. Suddenly an enormous explosion rips through the still of the night and you know that whatever or whoever was unlucky enough to be on that boat was blown halfway to hell. Within hours, a charred floating carcass is all that's left. That, and twenty-seven dead bodies. Miraculously, there are two survivors: a Hungarian gangster who lies, clinging to life and burnt to a crisp, in a hospital bed; and Roger "Verbal" Kint, a crippled con-man from New York. As U.S. Customs Special Agent David Kujan conducts his grueling inquisition, Kint weaves a tale that begins six weeks earlier, at a police lock- up in New York. Five felons, accused of hijacking a truckload of gun parts in Oueens, are brought in for a line-up. The cops don't have much in the way of evidence, so the five are held overnight.
CAST:
Rodger "Verbal" Kint is played by Kevin Spacey of "Se7en". Kevin Spacey won a best supporting actor Oscar for "The Usual Suspects" in 1995.
Spencer McManus is played by Stephen Baldwin of "Bio-Dome".
Dean Keaton is played by Gabriel Byrne of "Little Women".
Fred Fenster is played by Benicio Del Toro of "Basquiat".
Todd Hockney is played by Kevin Pollak of "Casino".
Dave Kujan is played by Chazz Palminteri of "Jade".
Kobayashi is played by Pete Postlethwaite of "The Lost World: Jurassic Park".
MUSIC:
The score for this movie, by John Ottman, is one of the best I've ever heard. It starts out with the simple rhythmic notes of a violin, then a piano comes in with a melody that immediately gets stuck in your head. Then more instruments are added. In a way, the score mimics the movie, for in the movie, information is added piece by piece, every scene is important, as every instrument is important to creating the entire musical piece. The melody, low, forboding, gives great atmosphere to the film's dark, clandestine mood.
REVIEW:
When I first saw this movie, I was on the edge of my seat the entire time. For the entire length of the movie, I was oblivious to everything around me, and my entire world was that screen sitting in my living room and the people on it. The vibrant colors of the set caught my eye and trapped it there as did Newton Thomas Sigel's briliant cinematography, while Kevin Spacey's soothing voice filled my ears. The dialog was sharp, intelligent, and romantically fake. But best of all was the plot and the way it unfolded like a ball of yarn being tossed over the edge of a cliff. I loved the movie so much I bought it along with the poster which I have hanging proudly on my bedroom wall.
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