The Usual Suspects

The Usual Suspects is a 1995 American movie written by Christopher McQuarrie (who earned an Oscar for the screenplay) and directed by Bryan Singer. It stars Kevin Spacey (who won an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for his performance), Gabriel Byrne, Chazz Palminteri, Stephen Baldwin, Pete Postlethwaite, Benicio Del Toro, and Kevin Pollak.

The Usual Suspects tells the story of Roger “Verbal” Kint (Spacey), a small-time con man, who is in a police interrogation, and tells his interrogator, Agent Kujan (Palminteri), a convoluted story about events leading to a massacre and massive fire that have just taken place on a ship docked at the Port of Los Angeles in San Pedro Bay. Using flashback and narration, Verbal’s story becomes increasingly complex as he tries to explain why he and his partners-in-crime were on that boat.

The film, shot on a $6 million budget, did not create much excitement prior to its initial release and was released in few theaters, but it received favourable reviews and was given a wider release, grossing far more than expected. The film eventually became one of the most highly regarded of the crime-drama genre. Ten years after its release, it is consistently found in the Top 20 on the Internet Movie Database’s Top 250 films (as of March 2007 it currently resides at #18).