Held in an L.A. interrogation room, Verbal Kint attempts to convince the feds that a mythic crime lord not only exists, but was also responsible for drawing him and his four partners into a multi-million dollar heist that ended with an explosion in San Pedro harbor - leaving few survivors. But as Kint lures his interrogators into the incredible story of this crime lord's almost supernatural prowess, so too will you be mesmerized by a lore that is completely captivating from beginning to end!
Boasting petty criminal characters conceived so brilliantly they achieve near-mythological status,
The Usual Suspects is known for riveting suspense and action, an intriguing plotline and a jaw-
dropping twist at the end. It also features some of the most memorable lines of the 1990s: "How do
you shoot the devil in the back--what if you miss?" Best of all, the Blu-ray version's 1080p
resolution allows viewers to rediscover this gem on a level that goes far beyond any DVD release.
The characters, Roger "Verbal" Kint (Kevin Spacey), Dean Keaton (Gabriel Byrne), Michael McManus
(Stephen Baldwin), Fred Fenster (Benicio Del Toro), Todd Hockney (Kevin Pollak), Dave Kujan (Chazz
Palminteri) and Kobayashi (Pete Postlethwaite) now appear with visual details and cues and not
available on NTSC.
Kevin Spacey turns in an Academy-Award winning performance as the meek, crippled petty
criminal, Verbal Kint.
The film is set in the aftermath of a ship fire that totally burns the cargo and crew. Though meek
and disabled, Verbal is the only survivor to walk away from the incident unscathed. He is taken
into custody and grilled by the police. Brilliantly played in a characteristic, understated style that
earned Spacey an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor, Verbal is cleared and allowed to
leave. But before he can go, agent Kujan from US Customs shows up to interrogate him. Kujan is
trying to build a case against Keaton and he wants Verbal to testify in exchange for immunity.
Verbal refuses, but Kujan still bullies Verbal into recounting his story of Keaton, McManus, Fenster
and Hockney, leading up to the explosion on the ship.
What follows is a fantastic yarn of lies and half-truths sprinkled within the facts of the case. It is
all masterfully portrayed as a series of flashbacks while Verbal and Kujan sip coffee and talk in the
LA police station. The story begins six weeks earlier in New York City as Verbal and the other four
criminals are brought in to stand side-by-side in a police lineup. None of them are formally
charged with a crime, and there are indications Keaton has actually gone straight prior to the
roundup. But before they are released, the five hatch a plan to get revenge on the corrupt NYPD
and make a large sum of money in the process by robbing a police-protected jewel smuggler and
leaking news of the police involvement to the press. Keaton is reluctant and must be coaxed into
it with the promise that no one will be killed in the heist. He agrees and the quintet pulls off the
robbery to perfection. The acting and writing take chances that pay off, with each actor fully
immersing himself in his role. Del Toro creates a uniquely colorful persona in his portrayal of
Fenster, Baldwin conveys a reckless abandon and lust for violence, Pollak shows steely courage
and resolve, Byrne is a complex mesh of toughness with motives pulling him in all directions.
Each actor is at the top of his game.
The five criminals go to Los Angeles to lay low in the aftermath of the New York heist. There,
they are enticed into another robbery that is also supposed to involve no killing. Unfortunately,
this LA heist goes horribly wrong. As Verbal recounts this carnage, its aftermath and the growing
problems and hostility in the crew, agent Kujan receives a tip from one of his colleagues who has
a survivor pulled from the water near the charred wreckage of the ship. The witness is badly
burned and cannot speak English, but insists that the man responsible for the destruction of life
and property on the ship is named Kaiser Soze.
Armed with this news, Kujan confronts Verbal who reacts as if upset that Kujan has been tipped
off about Soze. Verbal's story suggests that it may have been Soze who orchestrated the police lineup in New York
and the robbery gone awry in LA. He picks up the narration again as the five criminals meet a
mysterious lawyer, Kobayashi, who indirectly gave them the LA job. It is Kobayashi who demands
they ransack the ship and assassinate the crew. Kobayashi describes it as a very difficult job. "I
do not expect all of you to survive," he says. When Keaton and the others refuse, Kobayashi tells
them he works for Soze who each of them has unwittingly wronged in the past. Soze is
demanding the ship heist as a final favor in exchange for not harming the five or their families or
associates. To prove Soze's threat is real, Kobayashi produces envelopes for the five men
containing a complete record of every one of their crimes, accomplices and family members.
"Everyone I've ever worked with or did time with," Fenster says. "They know everything,"
Hockney says.
Not easily bullied, the quintet decides to strong-arm Kobayashi, murdering two of his associates
and bringing him to a construction site to assassinate him. But he has already outwitted them by
involving Keaton's girlfriend and showing Keaton that she is now in Soze's control. He threatens
that, should any harm come to him, the girl will meet with an unsavory violation before her
death, as will other friends and family of the quintet. Kobayashi is not afraid of death because if
he does not do Soze's bidding, his fate would be worse than death and he promises theirs will be
too. Now thoroughly spooked, the quintet realizes it is pointless to kill Kobayashi, as he is just a
middleman. Fenster decides to flee LA, but doesn't make it. As the rest of them learn of his death
and bury the body, they decide they have no choice but to comply with Soze's demands to storm
the ship.
But who is Kaiser Soze? Did he orchestrate the police lineup in New York, and pull all the strings
ever since? Is the cargo of the ship drugs or only human cargo? Why did Verbal survive
unharmed while so many others did not? Did Keaton really die, as Verbal insists, or did he slip
away, as Kujan believes? Is Verbal telling the truth? Much is revealed in the final moments of the
film, which wash over the viewer like an enormous wave of recognition. Snippets of dialogue from
earlier in the film are montaged over the complex score, providing spine-tingling clues about
exactly what part of Verbal's yarn was fact and what was fiction. The final snippet of dialogue,
followed by a fortissimo string finale is especially powerful: "and like that...he was gone."
The Usual Suspects will never win a Blu-ray award for "sharpest picture" or "greatest detail", but
it
is rated highly for being head and shoulders above any of the DVD versions. The contrast is
optimal, colors are vivid and
lifelike, black level is good, and noise is minimal due to the use of softener filters. Actually, a
criticism of the picture is that the filters may have hurt more than helped. Some film grain and
other noise in the picture is actually preferable if it helps the sharpness. But alas, The Usual
Suspects suffers a slight bit in depth and overall definition due to the filters applied after the
transfer. Perhaps the MPEG-4 treatment on a BD-50 instead of MPEG-2 on BD-25 could have also
helped the picture.
These criticisms will have implications only for the most refined videophiles. Most will simply find
the Blu-ray version to be stunningly vivid compared the NTSC versions. And for fans of the film, it
is sheer magic to see details in the faces of Verbal, Kujan, Fenster and the others--details like
small lines around the eyes and brow or an almost imperceptible tightening of the lower lip during
Kobayashi's discussion with the quintet. Such definition is simply not perceptible or fully resolved
on DVD. On the Blu-ray, it seems to jump out of the picture.
To a lesser extent, the audio is also improved. The Blu-ray boasts a 5.1 DTS-HD track, but the fact is
that the original production suffered a bit in the audio department. The soundstage in particular is
weak for a movie featuring many action-packed sequences of gunfire, explosions and yelling voices.
Still, there is much to appreciate about the sound quality here. Voices are crisp and the timbre of
each character is reproduced well. The string arrangement sounds quite defined, although it does
not image from the speakers the way lossless PCM does.
Unless you consider trailers of other movies to be valuable supplementary material, don't look to the
Blu-ray version of The Usual Suspects for bonus features. MGM really needs to step up its game in
this department. The lack of material is especially deplorable because this film is one of the classics
of the '90s. It was produced on a tight budget and more information about challenges during
production would be interesting. What inspired the story and its powerful cast of characters?
Nothing is more important than a quality version of the film, but bonus features
would be nice.
Whether it is attributable to lies in Verbal's yarn or odd casting decisions, several characters in
The Usual Suspects add to the film's mystique. Chief among these is the Irish Postlethwaite cast
as the Japanese Kobayashi. There is a strong clue at the end that the name Kobayashi is used
solely to mislead Kujan. But Kobayashi is not the only instance of a character's name failing to
match his appearance. Another example is McManus' contact in LA, Redfoot, which one would
expect to be the name of a Native American. But Redfoot appears to be caucasian. Again, at the
end there is an indication that Verbal used Redfoot to avoid giving Kujan a real name. Strange
ethnic inconsistencies crop up constantly. Kaiser Soze is said to be Turkish, possibly with a
German father. These mixed-up character portraits add a layer of complexity to the plot, but one
must always consider the source, Verbal Kint, and his motives.
The dynamic between Kujan and Verbal itself is pure entertainment. A kind of cat-and-mouse
game, nuances are thrown into the proceedings that make it more interesting and add depth to
the characters. Even the way the interrogation is filmed is unique. Verbal didn't achieve his
nickname for no reason. He knows how to run his mouth and Kujan has a difficult challenge in
corralling him. Underlying the interrogation is Kujan's suspicion of Keaton and his belief that
Keaton manipulated Verbal. But Verbal is hard to pin down and Kujan occasionally resorts to bully
tactics.
The Blu-ray version of The Usual Suspects is an important release of a modern classic. The
amazing
plotline and well-defined characters are given new life that was for the most part inaccessible in
NTSC. Through the increased definition, the mythological stature of Kaiser Soze comes through
far
more powerfully and the film takes on an epic scope. Considering its odd cast and the convoluted
story, the epic feel relies mostly on the interaction between strong characters, the writing and
the
violent action sequences that are choreographed with drama and precision. Adding The Usual
Suspects is an easy recommendation for any Blu-ray library.
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