The Usual Suspects,
directed by Bryan Singer
(Gramercy Pictures, 1995)


Is that it?

The Usual Suspects is an interesting thriller with a fatal flaw.

The flaw lies in the point of view. People who love it think that the flashbacks and other information being given to the police are being presented in good faith. They are not. It's all Verbal's POV. And he is lying.

Movies like The Sixth Sense and The Others, which contain huge twist endings, also use POV to divert the audience. But in those cases, the POV that we see is sincere. The characters in the movie whose POV we use are convinced it is true. They are MISTAKEN. We are shocked at the end and the reason is that the characters whose narrative we have followed are also shocked.

Kaiser Soze is hardly shocked at the revelation of who he really is. My reaction was more "oh" than "Whoa!" His limping was fake!!!

Come on.




Rambles.NET
review by
Dave Sturm


15 March 2008


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