Official Synopsis
A $91 million cocaine heist. A devastating boat explosion. Two survivors. U.S. Customs special agent David Kujan (Chazz Palminteri) is determined to find out who and what’s behind the melee. As he pieces the clues together with the help of a half-charred Hungarian gangster and an outspoken, crippled con man from New York, Kujan soon finds out this story actually begins with five criminal minds…and one infamous mastermind.
If you haven’t seen The Usual Suspects you’re going to be in for a treat. What amazed me most about this film is how incredibly balanced Christopher McQuarrie’s screenplay was. His characters are perfectly crafted with each having their own small backstory. He made each character unique and really brought out and maintained this uniqueness through every plot point of the film. You’ve got the worn out criminal in Dean Keaton (Gabriel Byrne), who is constantly hounded by cops. You have the hotheaded Michael McManus (Stephen Baldwin), who shoots before he thinks. Accompanying them is the fast-talking street crook Fred Fenster (Benicio Del Toro), who people can’t understand, but McManus trusts. Then there’s the hard-nosed Todd Hockney (Kevin Pollak), who does the blue-collar crimes. Finally, the cripple (and most innocent of the bunch) Verbal Kint (Kevin Spacey), who just wants to do his part and be included; kind of like the Charlie Bucket of the group. Each personality for each character is maintained and crafted beautifully in this story of crime and betrayal. Taking on the task of not only maintaining the integrity of the characters and story that you built is amazing, but McQuarrie did it with such ease and preciseness that he deserved the Oscar he got. It also solidifies The Usual Suspects as one of the best films ever made.
As for other efforts, Bryan Singer couldn’t have selected a better project to take control of and make. The Usual Suspects is an amazing example of what the perfect story and perfect cast can produce once you have the perfect director to make it happen; it’s like one of those moments where everything is right. His decision making on how the scenes were shot and his guidance to get the actors to the places they needed to be (both physically and mentally) couldn’t have been an easy gig, but it certainly paid off in the end. What he created through his vision of McQuarrie’s writing was spot-on with what the film needed. With some clever editing decision as well, the build from constructing the story visually and making it go faster and faster with excitement until the climactic end was breathtaking to watch. Singer deserved the praise and future accolades he received (minus Superman Returns). The guy can direct and this proves it.
So are there any issues with this film? None. This film is what a movie should feel like from beginning to end. You get great acting, fantastic story and an ending that will force you to watch the entire film again and again. I’m still amazed with how tight the story was and how well the actors/director maintained it all.
It’s quite the epic film.
The Blu-ray quality for The Usual Suspects Limited Edition is actually quite good. There is little to no grain in the picture, regardless of lighting and night/day scenes, which makes it quite impressive. I’ve seen films from the mid to late 90s that have been transferred to Blu-ray that have looked much worse than this 1995 release. I especially enjoyed the end scenes between the boat and the reveal, as they were super sharp. Even the gruesome scene of Fenster’s body lying broken on the ground looked unfortunately very detailed and crisp (no pun intended). MGM did a great job with the Blu-ray transfer, especially in comparison to The Terminator Limited Edition release. The audio is also quite good, as it’s mastered in 5.1 DTS-HD.
Now, where The Terminator catches up and surpasses The Usual Suspects Limited Edition is in the special features department; this release has none, which is very disappointing. Commentary, old featurettes or anything would have been nice. You do get a very cool booklet included inside the release (which makes it a book-type casing) and that’s pretty neat. You get some great information about the production, each actor and a bit more of an explanation about the ending.