Sixteen years and at least one insufferable trend later, is it possible to think of The Usual Suspects as separate from its third act game changer? Probably not, which makes discussing and evaluating the film both pointless and a little difficult, as any point you could make leads back to the spoiler to end all spoilers, which in turn makes the director Bryan Singer’s and writer Christopher McQuarrie’s elaborate set-up seem like little more than a cruel put on, or a joke where the punchline is your own dumbfounded expression. But for those of you who have seen the film and know the disingenuous note on which it concludes know that it's considerably more appreciable than that, and perhaps even an organic resolution to the cynical construct that has preceded it. Rather than negate what you have seen before, The Usual Suspects closes with a grand, almost foolhardy gesture of character that brings out the very essence of the one thing in the entire film that you can count on being true: the brilliant, conspiratory villainy of Keyser Soze. In case it wasn’t already obvious, herein lie spoilers.
US Customs Agent Dave Kujan (Chazz Palminteri) has a problem on his hands: a boat mangled to pieces by an explosion still floating in the water, 27 bodies floating nearby, and $91 million in drug money with no living person to claim it. He has only one thing to work with: the testimony of Verbal Kint (Kevin Spacey), a small time hood who saw everything, but isn’t saying anything. Working without a partner, Kujan is forced play both bad cop and good cop to Kint, who slowly, but surely, starts to say what he knows. He tells a story of a lineup in New York where he met four other small-timers like him (Gabriel Byrne, Stephen Baldwin, Kevin Pollak, Benicio Del Toro), the crimes that they started to plan together, and of a crime lord named Keyser Soze, who masterminded everything that has happened up to that point, and is still out there and hard at work, even as Kujan sits talking to Kint.
In his book Killing Pablo, Mark Bowden draws the regrettable but accurate conclusion that had Pablo Escobar, the richest and most powerful outlaw in the history of the world, only been a bit more modest, he would probably still be alive. It was not his immense influence or criminality that necessitated his targeting by U.S. and Columbian forces, but his vanity, his gluttony, and his insatiable need to build his own legend and embarass his enemies who had largely been turning a blind eye. Keyser Soze has no such insecurity, as he knows that his grip on people will only grow if he allows other people to build it for him with their theorizing and hushed whisper of his name. Unlike so many crime lords who have a seemingly pathological need to aggrandize themselves (or worse, try to morally justify their actions in the context of the larger scheme of things), Soze has no illusions about who he is or his function in the world. Rather than exposing his own vulnerabilities with a public image, Soze stays appropriately in the shadows, where anyone looking to confront him would have to crawl down onto his turf.
By the time the twist comes, and everything that Kint says is thrown into doubt (let it be known, however, that the director and screenwriter still don’t agree on exactly what it means), Keyser Soze’s grimy fingerprints can be felt on nearly every action that has taken place, whether it be in actuality or in an all-consuming perception that he has managed to foist on the underworld. But even if Kint’s lies negate the storyline that the film has been following (they very well may not), their significance is clear: what we have seen up unto that point represent the actions of the world’s most elusive mythmaker, and possibly its most purely professional criminal. By linking our experience as viewers with that of Kujan trying to piece everything together, Singer has provided an elaborate framework for justifying repeat viewings by passing off his own deceptions as Soze’s. As years go by, and Kint’s narrative only seems more and more plausible, so too does the improbably powerful figure of Soze. We may think that we’re appreciating the intricacy of McQuarrie’s script, but on another level, we’re getting to see the man behind the curtain at work, and better appreciating how the legitimate heir to the title "greatest criminal mind of our time" got to be where he is and is staying there.
Bonus Features
This is surprisingly thin for a Blu-ray release, with only the trailer as well as standard audio options.
"The Usual Suspects" is on sale May 10, 2011 and is rated R. Crime, Thriller. Directed by Bryan Singer. Written by Christopher McQuarrie. Starring Benicio Del Toro, Chazz Palminteri, Gabriel Byrne, Kevin Pollack, Kevin Spacey, Stephen Baldwin.
