24 - "The Usual Suspects" (1995)

     Who is Keyser Soze? That was the question in cinema in the second half of 1995. For a couple of months, The Usual Suspects was the hot topic among people who had seen it. If you have seen the movie, you know who Keyser Soze is by now. And this movie hasn't reached that time frame yet where I want to spill anything, because I still think there are a lot of people who haven't seen the film. If you haven't, and you are into crime or thriller type movies, especially ones with an edge, make sure to put this on your list. As the movie opens, we are on a ship in a harbor, there is an explosion and some gunfire, and before we know it the police are investigating 27 dead men and 91 million dollars worth of missing cocaine, that was believed to be on board the ship. A lone survivor, Verbal Kint (Kevin Spacey), is brought into police headquarters for questioning. Dave Kujan (Chazz Palminteri) is the customs agent assigned to the case and he has Verbal explain everything to him from the beginning. Verbal tells his story to Kujan and we flashback to different events as they happened. Things started five days earlier when five criminals (the usual suspects) are brought into a police lineup as suspects in a truckload of weapons that has been hijacked. All claim their innocence, and to get back at the police, they team together to strike back at the police force. The quintet is made up of Kint, Fenster (Benicio Del Toro), McManus (Stephen Baldwin), Hockney (Kevin Pollak) and the ringleader Dean Keaton (Gabriel Byrne). The pull off their payback perfectly, but when things are looking up, things go south. They are approached by a lawyer named Kobayashi (Pete Postelthwaite) who represents a legendary crime lord named Keyser Soze. The five guys have done Soze wrong and their payback is that they must pull off a heist that is very dangerous and not one all of the men are expected to survive. Because they fear Soze so much, they fell they have no choice but to go along with the plan. The Usual Suspects is one of those films you will probably want to watch twice. First, to just enjoy the story. The second time, to see how they get to the eventual conclusion. The acting is superb, with Spacey picking up a Supporting Actor Oscar for his portrayal. The action is very intense, but the script does not suffer because of this. Some of the best scenes are the dialogue scenes between Palminteri and Spacey in the police headquarters. This is just a great film all around. It will not be for everyone, it is rated R with tons of profanity and violence. But don't let that distract you from a great story and mystery. Who is Keyser Soze?