Top 100 Movies Of The 1990's: #64 The Usual Suspects

Box Office: $23.3 Million Dollars

Oscar Nominations: Best Supporting Actor (Kevin Spacey), Best Original Screenplay

Oscar Wins: Best Supporting Actor (Kevin Spacey), Best Original Screenplay

MovieRankings.Net: 95/100

Available To Stream: Amazon Prime ($4), The Roku Channel

(This review includes spoilers. I know it's a 28 year old movie but if you haven't seen it, you'll want to before reading so the ending isn't ruined.)

Is it OK to like a movie made by a bad person and starring an equally lousy human? The Usual Suspects managed to be directed by a alleged predator in Bryan Singer and stars Kevin Spacey who has been also accused of being a sexual predator by over a dozen people. Is it possible to separate the art from the artist? Where is the line drawn?

I feel like I can be a total hypocrite on the issue at times. I would be very pleased to never hear another R. Kelly song the rest of my life. He's a horrible person and it's a good thing he's in jail. But on the other hand, if I hear a song like Beat It or Don't Stop 'Til You Get Enough, I'm still enjoying it. Michael Jackson had horrible accusations against him but do I still enjoy his art just because it's better than R. Kelly's? It's a tough line to draw in the sand.

I struggled with that line with this movie. I found it helped that this was a movie about absolute scumbags. If it was about heroic people, I think I would have had a harder time with it. But I can't help but wonder if there is an element of this movie which has an evil mastermind essentially hiding in plain sight and getting away with it that attracted predators who were basically doing the same thing.

For a low budget pulpy crime drama, this is brilliantly executed. The casting is perfect from people at the peak of their careers like Gabriel Byrne and Chazz Palminteri to future Oscar winners like Spacey and Benicio Del Toro. It has such an odd pack of talented but mostly career supporting actors but it works. In a movie where anyone can be Keyser Soze, you need people who can share the spotlight.

What makes this movie so great is the Oscar winning script by Christopher McQuarrie. This put McQuarrie on the map and now he's become Tom Cruise's right hand man. He's directed not only the last two Mission: Impossible movies but also the next two that are upcoming as well. There aren't many endings better than this one.

Watching Kevin Spacey as Keyser Soze made me sad at times. Spacey really was such a brilliant actor. This isn't the first Kevin Spacey movie to make the list (#91 Glengarry Glen Ross) and it won't be the last. I would never go see a new Spacey movie but I find I can still enjoy the older ones. I am not sure if that also makes me a hypocrite? In The Usual Suspects, Keyser Soze says that the greatest trick the devil ever pulled was convincing the world he didn't exist. Nearly 30 years later, it's somehow harder when we know who some of the devils are.

64. The Usual Suspects

65. In The Line Of Fire

66. My Cousin Vinny

67. Awakenings