Roanoke Times Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc. DATE: SATURDAY, September 16, 1995 TAG: 9509180009 SECTION: EXTRA PAGE: B12 EDITION: METRO SOURCE: MIKE MAYO CORRESPONDENT DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
Is he a cold-blooded Turkish gangster? A smalltime American crook? Nothing more than an imaginary character invented for some unknown purpose?
Those are the questions at the heart of "The Usual Suspects," an unusually complicated thriller that makes "Pulp Fiction" look like a simple schoolbook story. In fact, writer Christopher McQuarrie and director/producer Bryan Singer make the film so convoluted that they'll probably frustrate as many moviegoers as they delight.
The title characters are five New York hoods brought together in a police lineup. Keaton (Gabriel Byrne) is a crooked cop who may be trying to go straight. Verbal (Kevin Spacey) is a soft-spoken con man. McManus (Stephen Baldwin) is a gung-ho gunman. Hockney (Kevin Pollack) works with explosives. Nobody can understand a word Fenster (Benicio Del Toro) says.
One of the quintet is suspected in a truck hijacking. When the five are locked up in the same holding cell, they hatch bigger plans that lead to several crimes. One of those eventually involves a massacre on a ship at the San Pedro pier and serves as the film's prologue.
Something happens on the ship that brings these guys to the attention of authorities at every level of law enforcement. L.A. detective Jeff Rabin (Dan Hedaya) gets a full confession out of one of them, but has to grant full immunity. That's not enough for Customs inspector Dave Kujan (Chazz Palminteri) or FBI agent Jack Baer (Giancarlo Esposito) who think that the elusive Keyser Soze may be in on the deal.
If all that sounds hard to follow, it's only the beginning. The rest of the plot takes so many logic-defying twists, often turning in on itself, that the viewer simply has to sit back and go with it. Don't try to analyze the story until the final twist, and even then, too much analysis is probably pointless.
The solid ensemble performances and the film's cool attitude are really more important than the plot, anyway. Director Singer deserves credit for carefully underplaying the violent elements. He's interested in trickery and misdirection, not explosions and shootouts.
In the end, though, the payoff or punchline seems a little weak after the extended build-up. For comparative purposes, "The Usual Suspects" isn't quite as enjoyable as two other recent and equally offbeat cult favorites, "Shallow Grave" and "Heavenly Creatures."
The Usual Suspects **1/2
A Gramercy Pictures release playing at the Grandin Theatre. 104 min. Rated R for strong language, some violence.
by CNB