Check it out a movie that's actually from the lifetime of people who use social media - I'm so proud of myself. More important than it's relative newness, however is the fact that this movie meets my two primary criteria for inclusion on this list, 1) it is a brilliant movie and 2) not enough people have seen it. It has a cast of people who have, for the most part only become more popular and in demand than when they did the movie, but most importantly it has Bryan Singer as director. If you love the X-Men movies you owe it to yourself to see what Singer did with a more terrestrial script.
Synopsis:
The action of this movie is told almost entirely in flashback. The only exception is the very stylized, very brutal murder of one man by another. They clearly know each other, but it is not clear, how or how well. Immediately after the murder the boat is lit on fire and explodes. We are immediately transported to the interview of Roger 'Verbal' Kint (Kevin Spacey) who says the story began six weeks prior when a hijacking of a truck in New York caused the police to round up several criminals with connections to hijacking and to put them in the line up. In other words, they rounded up the usual suspects. (For those who don't know the title is taken from Casablanca in which the hapless police of Vichy France were told on more than one occasion to round up the usual suspects) We then see, in flashback the lineup these guys were put in and through that scene (which is very funny) we meet our other main characters including the man who was shot in scene on on that boat, Dean Keaton, played by Gabriel Byrne, a former cop who went REALLY bad. Michael McMannus played by Stephen Baldwin, is the regular crime partner of Fred Fenster, played by Benicio del Toro before he became really famous. Finally we meet Todd Hockney played by Kevin Pollack a loaner with a very colorful vocabulary. We see that Verbal has a bad limp and no use of one hand and it isn't clear what he's doing there with these more serious criminals.
As this group of criminals are cooing their heels in a holding cell after the line up, McMannus and Fenster decide that now might be a good time to recruit partners for a score they have in the works. Dean Keaton wants nothing of the plan insisting that the whole line up was a set up and that he is going straight. The others are interested however and Verbal comes up with a plan but it requires 5 guys so he talks Keaton into joining them.
Soon we cut away to the blown up boat. We are told there are 15 or so fatalities and the only survivors are a cripple being talked to by the D.A. whom we recognize as Kint, and a man in a coma at the hospital. We are introduced to two investigators Dave Kujan of US Customs (played by Chazz Palminteri) and FBI agent Jack Baer (Giancarlo Esposito). Kujan is primarily interested in the involvement and death of Dean Keaton - they have history and he's not sure about the story he's heard Kint told the authorityes. (There are simply too many unanswered questions - why did so many people die for dope that wasn't there? It's all very confused but it is clear that cares about Dean Keaton and him only, at least at first. He manages to gain access to Verbel Kint and question him one on one. And Kint tells him the whole story - interspersed with parts of his own personal history the he throws in to apparently obfuscate his primary story. The rest of the film unfolds as Kint tells Kujon the story.
Review:
This really is one of those serendipitous movies in which everyone is at the top of their game and it all comes together in a taut. terrifying, fascinating thriller that you will talk about long after you see it. Because it is one of those stick to your ribs movies you will find that friends who have seen it reference the movie often. That is one of the reasons I would put movies on this list if they are conversation producers. But this is so much more. This is one serious tour-de force by Kevin Spacey. The plot is so complicated there is a very good chance that two viewings will be needed. I heard a story shortly after it's release indicating that even Gabriel Byrne was confused about a major plot point until he saw the final cut. In addition to bringing many of these actors, and the wonderful director, to the fore for the first time, the screenwriter is engaged in his first big hit as well. It's a modern movie (ok absent cell phones and social media) with a real old fashioned film noir feel to it. I cannot recommend it highly enough.
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