After seeing this film ranked highly in multiple lists of 'greatest independent movies ever', I thought I'd give it a shot. Needless to say, I never missed much.

It seems almost wrong to state that a film with Kevin Spacey at the helm remains entirely forgettable. Of course, this is purely my opinion, and I am under the impression that many would furiously oppose me saying that I found The Usual Suspects to be a fun yet throwaway piece of cinema.

It beggars belief that such a film has garnered as much critical acclaim as it has, when a whiff of mediocrity accompanies almost every scene. The setup is regular crime schtick, the protagonists are given barely any characterisation other than 'this one limps', 'this one talks funny' and 'this ones a bit mad'. As for the twist ending? I fail to see how I could be alone in saying that I saw it coming a mile off.

The plot guided itself into a corner multiple times, and any loose ends that you expected to be covered at somepoint during its 106 minute running time remain loose ends until the rolling of the end credits. The characters, whilst interesting in theory, are completely unexplored and any interesting personality quirks (such as Verbal's habit of incessant conversation) are quickly mentioned and then almost instantly forgotten.

The film does have a certain charm to it, as is the case with most low-budget productions, but this charm is overrided by some inexcusable flaws and the unshakable feeling that The Usual Suspects could have been so much better.

Rating:



4 predictable twists.