Review of The Usual Suspects (1995) by Seancriswell — 07 Nov 2012

I was very excited to revisit what I considered one of my top 50 or so films after a few years. I have to say it was more than a little disappointing. I do understand why people, including myself, have become so attached to this movie.

Spacey's performance is fantastic, the reveal at the end of the film is still exciting and fun, and there are some very memorable, quotable lines. What I forgot about are some of the problems with this film, and they are numerous.

First of all for a thriller this movie spends a whole lot of time with nothing going on. While most of the performances are ok, I still have no idea what they were doing with Del Toro's accent. The score is pretty poor.

Once the final reveal happens there are countless plot holes that will never be explained. While I still like this movie based on the two strongest aspects of the film, and will probably revisit it again in a few years.

I will not recommend this movie as strongly the next time it comes up with someone who has never seen it.