The Usual Suspects

"Five criminals. One line up. No coincidence."

1995 1h 46m EN

🙌

8.2

BANGER

★8.2TMDB · 11,816

DramaCrimeThriller

Synopsis

Spoiler shield

Held in an L.A. interrogation room, Verbal Kint attempts to convince the feds that a mythic crime lord, Keyser Soze, not only exists, but was also responsible for drawing him and his four partners into a multi-million dollar heist that ended with an explosion in San Pedro harbor – leaving few survivors. Verbal lures his interrogators with an incredible story of the crime lord's almost supernatural prowess.

“Five criminals. One line up. No coincidence.”

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Where to watch · US

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Cast

Stephen Baldwin
McManus
Gabriel Byrne
Keaton
Benicio del Toro
Fenster
Kevin Pollak
Hockney
Kevin Spacey
Verbal
Chazz Palminteri
Dave Kujan
Pete Postlethwaite
Kobayashi
Suzy Amis
Edie Finneran

Credits

Behind the camera

Director: Bryan Singer
Writers: John Coven, Christopher McQuarrie
Languages: Spanish, English, French, Hungarian
Countries: United States of America

Want more? Switch to Cinephile mode in the header for DP, composer, budget, box office, production companies, keywords, and release history.

Did you know?

Fun facts 🍿

1 / 8

MONEY

Did you know

Made its money back 3.9× over at the box office.

MoodPlayr · trivia#01

2 / 8

ERA

Did you know

31 years old — old enough to be someone's favourite childhood film.

MoodPlayr · trivia#02

3 / 8

WORLD

Did you know

Dialogue crosses 4 languages: Spanish, English, French, Hungarian.

MoodPlayr · trivia#03

4 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Directed by Bryan Singer, shot by Newton Thomas Sigel. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.

MoodPlayr · trivia#04

5 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Original score by John Ottman. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.

MoodPlayr · trivia#05

6 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Editor Peter S. Elliot shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.

MoodPlayr · trivia#06

7 / 8

CAST

Did you know

Stephen Baldwin and Gabriel Byrne and Benicio del Toro carry the top of the cast.

MoodPlayr · trivia#07

8 / 8

FACT

Did you know

Marketing tagline: "Five criminals. One line up. No coincidence.".

MoodPlayr · trivia#08

Cinephile deep dive

The take

Bryan Singer directs. Newton Thomas Sigel behind the camera. John Ottman scores. Peter S. Elliot cuts. Made its budget back several times over at the box office. Produced in United States of America. Dialogue in Spanish, English, French, Hungarian.

Trivia

Things worth knowing

1Made its money back 3.9× over at the box office.
231 years old — old enough to be someone's favourite childhood film.
3Dialogue crosses 4 languages: Spanish, English, French, Hungarian.
4Directed by Bryan Singer, shot by Newton Thomas Sigel. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.
5Original score by John Ottman. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.
6Editor Peter S. Elliot shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.
7Stephen Baldwin and Gabriel Byrne and Benicio del Toro carry the top of the cast.
8Marketing tagline: "Five criminals. One line up. No coincidence.".
9IMDB entry: tt0114814 — still the authoritative cross-reference for credits and trivia.
1011,816 TMDB user ratings logged — serious cultural footprint.
11Classified under 18 themes, including "new york city", "robbery", "relatives", "heist".
12Released under 15 different titles around the world.

The technical file

Cinematography: Newton Thomas Sigel
Original score: John Ottman
Editing: Peter S. Elliot
Production design: Howard Cummings
Costume design: Louise Mingenbach
Makeup / hair: Michelle Bühler
Sound: Robert J. Litt
Stunt coordinator: Gary Jensen
Runtime: 106 min · 1h 46m
Aspect ratio (typical): 1.37:1 (Academy)
Status: Released
Budget: $6,000,000
Box office: $23,300,000
Return: 388% of budget
Original language: EN
Certification (US): R
IMDB: The Usual Suspects (1995)

Awards

National Board of Review: Top Ten Films
National Board of Review Award for Best Cast
Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor
Academy Award for Best Writing, Original Screenplay

Individual records documented via Wikidata; the summary above may count more.

Also by

Bryan Singer

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Community reviews

What people are saying

Andres Gomez2015-12-21
★ 8/10
Great movie with superb performance from Kevin Spacey, well accompanied with the rest of the cast.
John Chard2020-05-09
★ 10/10
Keaton always said, "I don't believe in God, but I'm afraid of him." Well I believe in God, and the only thing that scares me is Keyser Soze. The Usual Suspects is directed by Bryan Singer and written by Christopher McQuarrie. It stars Gabriel Byrne, Kevin Spacey, Kevin Pollack, Stephen Baldwin, Benicio Del Toro, Chazz Palminteri, Pete Postlethwaite, Giancarlo Esposito and Dan Hedaya. Music is by John Ottman and cinematography by Newton Thomas Sigel. Held in an L.A. interrogation room, Verbal Kint (Spacey) attempts to convince the feds that a mythic crime lord, Keyser Soze, not only exists, but was also responsible for drawing him and his four partners into a multi-million dollar heist that ended with an explosion in San Pedro harbor – leaving few survivors. It sort of sidled into movie theatres in 1995 with no fanfare or heralded notices. Yet it wasn't long before word of mouth got around that The Usual Suspects might actually be the must see film of the year. Fledgeling director and writer - Singer and McQuarrie - produce a masterclass of crime/mystery/noir plotting in a whirl of intricate plot shifts and deft sleights of hand. The core essence of the story is simple, just who is Keyser Soze? His reputation is one of utter fear, he may even be the devil himself. What transpires throughout the film is a number of scenes told in flashback form and narrated by Kint as the cops put the heat on him. We are introduced to the five criminals who make up the suspects of the title, where dialogue pings with machismo laced humour. The addition of Postlethwaite's Kobayashi character, one of Soze's harbinger's of doom, further ups the ante of the story's deliciously corkscrew intrigue. It all builds to a climax that - has you pondering just what you have watched previously. Yet here's the key as to why the pic still holds up on repeat viewings, we have been outsmarted, for as we dive in and enjoy the across the board great perfs, we have been privy to something that will stand the test of time for the genre it sits in. The repeat viewings factor still, some decades later, is as strong as ever. The advent of time and home format releases etc have only improved the pic's own mythical status. Behind the scenes egos and dislikes on set only add further strength to the characterisations, as does one main man thinking he himself must be Soze when in fact he was way off. There's a trail of clues in the film that will reveal who Soze is - who knew!? - and on it goes. The Usual Suspects is the filmic gift that keeps on giving. 10/10
The Movie Mob2022-09-17
★ 6/10
A clever twist and heavy fan support are the only stand-out aspects of this average heist film. Bloggers, reviews, and friends hyped The Usual Suspects for years before I finally watched it, and it was ok. The movie had a pretty clever plot twist that the entire film was building towards from the beginning. Unfortunately, without the twist, the film is pretty mediocre. Brute force characterized the heists over clever planning. Keyser Söze's brilliant manipulation of the characters around him seems less mastermind and more taking advantage of criminals that aren't the sharpest tools in the shed. Many people would disagree with me, but The Usual Suspects rates average at best for me.