Review of The Usual Suspects (1995) by Joe C — 04 Jan 2015

Christopher McQuarrie and Bryan Singer bolted a line from Casablanca to a poster image of five men in a seemingly-random line-up to inspire McQuarrie's original screenplay about a mysterious criminal kingpin, the failed raid of $91 million in cocaine, and the weak-willed lone survivor.

It's one of the most audacious examples of game-playing in cinema, as McQuarrie bamboozles us with a labyrinthine plot with an intricate flashback structure that completely turns on its head when the final piece is fitted.

Elegantly unspooling the script, The Usual Suspects is a deft deconstruction of storytelling that pile drives you with smart writing, deception and violence. There are no metaphors or hidden meaning to absorb, only the necessary rewatch immediately after to pick up all the hints of the ending along the way.

.. and wonder how in the hell you missed it.