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The Usual Suspects (Special Edition)

The Usual Suspects (Special Edition)

List Price: $19.98
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Rating: 2 stars
Summary: extremely over-blown crime thriller
Review: very over-blown with tepid writing, direction, and acting. definitely not oscar-worthy but better than the typical fare of the same genre. not bad as a rental or a simple movie to pass the time, but all in all it's not very good, original, or groundbreaking

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: One of the best movies I've seen in a long time
Review: Top-notch thriller with an ending that you'll never expect...fine acting by Spacey, Byrne, and Singer, etc...clever plot twists...and all the fun of a good movie. Buy this movie!!!

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: An excellent cinematic experience
Review: I just finished watching this film for the second time and I must say that it is one of the absolute best movies I've ever seen. The entire cast gives a fantastic performance, and the non-stop plot will twist you into a pretzel. An absolute must in any movie library. This is truly a 5 star film.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Best Movie on the Planet
Review: This movie is by far the best suspense film on the planet. The fantastic acting by an amazing cast, mixed with a thick and well planned out plot, makes this movie a jaw-dropping hour and 45 min , which leaves the veiwer unsure of who really is keizer sose, and by the time the movie is over, all you can say is "wow". If you want to see a dumfounded look on all of your friends, get this, now.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Fantastic Movie with a Fantastic Ending
Review: This movie has perhaps the best surpise ending that I've ever seen - much better than The Sixth Sense. It leads you down a path throughout the film, seems to confirm it, and then turns it around as if to say "ha ha, look what I made you believe" before you have a chance to wipe the smug grin off your face that you got as soon as you thought you figured it out.

The acting of the master criminals is superb - Gabriel Byrne is fantastic as Dean Keaton, Kevin Pollak wonderful in a surprising turn, and Kevin Spacey in a (well-deserved) Oscar winning performance. The supporting cast, including Chazz Palminteri and Pete Postlethwaite, is also outstanding.

The real star of this film, though, is the plot. It's very well thought out, suspenseful, and keeps you on the edge of your seat. Though nothing can match watching it for the first time, it's great to watch it again and again.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: "The greatest trick the Devil ever pulled..."
Review: ...was making some people think this movie was NOT worth every bit of praise it received, and then some. This film is a brilliant masterstroke--for director Bryan Singer, for writer Christopher McQuarrie, for all the cast of exceptional actors, and most notably, for the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, for finally getting it right.

Kevin Spacey steals your mind, logic, and ability to think of anything else than you just sitting back and following his tale of just WHO this Keyser Soze really is.

Some say the final scene kills the film; others say it perfectly caps off a brilliant plot-twister. However you wish to see it, remember this when you get to that point in the picture: you have been absolutely glued to this film, almost afraid to blink. You, too, have fallen into Soze's world, and you, too, have been conned!!!

"The greatest trick the Devil ever pulled was making the world believe he didn't exist." You shall see the greatest trick in this film is Spacey's ability to completely stare straight and tell "the truth." HA HA HA HA

The film's editing was sorely overlooked for awards--the quick motion makes the difficult story easy to follow, and keeps the flow of the crime mystery going. The tight dialogue is great--filled with one-liners you'll be saying for weeks. The cinematography is amazing, as is the moving score which evokes the old noir classics of the 1940s and 1950s. Gabriel Byrne is in top, intense form, as is the unlikely pair of Kevin Pollack and Stephan Baldwin. At the time, Benicio Del Toro was himself a newcomer, but you wouldn't guess it from his performance. Theatrical oldtimer Pete Postlethwaite is amazing, as is Chazz Palmintieri...I can't say it enough! EVERYONE IN THIS FILM IS GREAT! THIS FILM IS GREAT! I wish there were more films out there like this.

I won't tell you who Keyser Soze is: you must discover that on your own. But I will tell you this...if you haven't seen this, then WHAT the heck are you waiting for? Even if you do have a "fried drumstick" for a leg, hobble on it as you run to get this film!

Rating: 3 stars
Summary: Entertaining, but trips over its own cleverness.
Review: There's a cardinal unspoken agreement between a filmmaker and his audience. The audience agrees to submit to his small world and let him drive for a couple of hours, and he in turn agrees not to abuse their trust in suspending their disbelief. The Usual Suspects gleefully violates that agreement, and that is ultimately the weakest aspect of this film. You may have heard this already, but the ending really does negate the entire film thanks to the storytelling device chosen.

Otherwise, it's a very well-crafted, well-acted, entertaining film. Spacey in particular is continually being given kudos, but his performance has become somewhat overrated...Gabriel Byrne and Stephen Baldwin are easily as good if not better.

If you mind watching a whole film only to have a plot "twist" at the end that basically says "oops...just kidding about all that" (and lord knows I wouldn't blame you), you won't like this film. If you're willing to overlook that fact, and just enjoy the journey for its own sake (even knowing that the destination makes the trip moot), then you'll enjoy it.

Oh, and pretending that you need "higher intelligence" to "get" this film is laughable. How could anyone not get it...it bludgeons the audience with a plot sledgehammer. And conversely, it doesn't take a genius to see the gaping black hole in the story by the movie's end either.

Technically, the DVD is a bit disappointing. The image quality is not the greatest, the sound is poor (Dolby 2.0 only, not 5.1), and the only subtitles are spanish. Ironically, the trailer included in the "extras" is in Dolby 5.1 though. And one plus is that the filmmaker's commentary track is one of the better ones around.

An entertaining film, if you're willing to ignore that it makes itself almost meaningless by the end.

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: Keyser Soze
Review: You will probably never forget the name of Keyser Soze after seeing this. A great modern "who done it" mystery/.

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: Thank you Bryan Singer
Review: Had to write a review on Usual Suspects. Not cause I am a suspense movie fan. But the fact that I gave Pulp Fiction thumbs down, this movie is violent too. But there is so much to the story. Good script & acting by all. And of course Kevin Spacey takes it all. I give it 4 stars and not 5 cause the first 20 minutes or so is so slow and you really don't know what is happening. But when it picks up - it pulls you through with a big bang! Will call it a classic!

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: The APOCALYPSE NOW! of crime thrillers
Review: Bryan Singer (X-MEN; THE APT PUPIL) has crafted this superbly entertaining anti-heroic crime thriller with Post-Modern mythology of criminal Ubermensch. KEYSER SOZE is Colonel Kurtz of crime and looms like The Bogeyman in this fable of treachery, greed, and allegiance to lawlessness.

Gabriel Byrne is excellent as Dean; the ex-super cop turned super-hood gang leader. As is the rest of the ensemble cast: Stephen Baldwin; Kevin Pollack; and academy award winners Kevin Spacey and Benicio del Toro. They comprise a criminal "SEAL" team unwillingly commissioned by Pete Postlesthwaite (Soze's demonic legal emissary)to thwart a $91 million drug deal and annihilate a rival army of traffickers at the mysterious Crime Lord's behest. Chazz Palminteri(Giovanni Falcone of EXCELLENT CADAVERS)essays a Rudi Guilliani-like role of prosecutor eeking a bloody tale of betrayal and vengeance from crippled gang member Verbal Kint played with alternating insolence and insufferable obsequiousness by Spacey.The gang's anti-Mission Impossible is doomed from the jump. But consider influence of staid English "drawing-room" murder mystery ironically driving the film to its gunz-a-go-go Apocalypse Now! ending. WHO(is Keyser Soze...Why did he)DONE IT?" is gist of this thriller-puzzle laced with wicked undertones of black humor. THE USUAL SUSPECTS is UNUSUAL movie and may well secure status as cult classic....


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