The Usual Suspects, directed by Bryan Singer, is a conventional narrative film. There are strong examples of cause and effect, and everything has a purpose. Although the story is not exactly predictable, there are no random elements in the film. Even Kint’s ramblings about his barbershop quartet in Skokie, Illinois, and bean picking in Guatemala serve a purpose in the overall scheme of things.
The film could fall into a variety of genres. It is a crime story, obviously, since the plot revolves around criminals and a series of crimes they commit. It is also a mystery film in the way that you never know what will happen next. The Usual Suspects is also a drama, in the broadest sense of the term. Although it has some comic elements, the film is on the serious side, and deals with realistic people in what could be a realistic situation. The film is also a thriller in the way that it builds up suspense. It provokes questions such as who is Keyser Soze? What happens when they walk into certain death?
The film opens with a slow pan across the water, with the blue of the lights reflecting on the surface. The music is slow and mellow, setting the seriousness of the mood. Other than at the very end, there is no other non-diagetic music in the film. There are a few voice overs, such as Kujan’s answering machine, the transition from a flashback back to Jeff Rabin‘s office, Kint’s voice as we see Keyser Soze’s story, and different lines that Kint had said while he was talking to Kujan that were repeated during the end montage sequence. Other than those instances, all of the sound in the film is diagetic dialogue.
As in most films, the story is much deeper than the plot. While the plot begins with the lineup in New York and ends with Keyser Soze walking away, the story begins long before that, with the heists that each suspect pulled, and can even be traced further back than that, with Keyser Soze’s past, as we see in Kint’s recollection. The story also does not end with Keyser Soze driving away. The ending remains open, and we do not know if Soze was ever caught, if he remained in San Francisco or if he moved on, if he continued to get people to work for him, if he ever pulled another job like the one on the boat. These things remain a mystery, yet whatever happens is part of the story that is unseen in the plot.
However, there are many elements in the plot that were not in the story. Things were repeated in the plot that were not repeated in the story, such as seeing the boat explode in the beginning and in the end of the film, and Kujan’s cup shattering on the floor. The plot was, for the most part, linear. Although there were many flashbacks, they also occurred in a chronological order. And although most of the events in flashback did occur, the scenes shown in the film were much more vivid and detailed than what Kint could have described. Minute details such as the exact conversation that took place, what each person was wearing, what each person did, is all but impossible to remember and tell with as much description that was shown in the flashbacks. Also, there were events that happened in the plot during the flashbacks that did not occur in the story during the time the flashbacks represented. One such event was Kint hiding behind the ropes as he watched Keyser Soze shoot Keaton. Since we learned that Kint was Keyser Soze, it would have been impossible for him to be in both places. During the last montage sequence we see that different things in the office prompted the names of characters in Kint’s story. Whether or not these people actually existed as some other alias or whether they were merely imagined characters remained unanswered.
The implicit meaning of the film shows that things are not always what they appear to be. The film tells the story of five criminals, Dean Keaton, Todd Hockney, Michael McManus, Roger "Verbal" Kint, and Fred Fenster, who are brought together by a phony police lineup. They team up to perform several crimes together. Their last crime was a drug heist on a boat in San Francisco, a favor for the fabled Keyser Soze. During the job the boat exploded, and all of them died, except for Verbal Kint. The plot revolves around his testimony and his confession to U.S. Customs Special Agent David Kujan. We witness all of the aforementioned elements through flashbacks of Kint’s. However, by the end of the film we learn that Verbal is Keyser Soze, which raises the question, did any of the events that Kint recalled really happen? This mystery is what makes The Usual Suspects so appealing.
Each element is presented in a way to add suspense. From the beginning we ask ourselves "What’s going on here? What happened next?" We are constantly reminded that we are seeing things from Kint’s point of view. And while he seems like a trustworthy person, there is still a shadow of a doubt, especially taking into consideration that he also is a criminal.
The film starts on a boat in San Francisco "last night." Dean Keaton lights an entire book of matches, lights his cigarette, then sets a trail of gas on fire. A man standing on some steps puts the fire out and walks down to Keaton. He takes out his lighter and lights his own cigarette with his left hand. Keaton begins to have a conversation with the guy, whom he calls "Keyser." It is obvious by the way they talk that Keaton knows him. However, we see Keyser take a gun out of his right pocket and ask Keaton "Are you ready?", and we realize the look on Keaton’s face is actually one of recognition and defeat. Keyser then switches his gun from his right to his left hand, points it at Keaton, and it cuts away as we hear gun shots. We then assume that Keaton is dead. Keyser then drops his cigarette which restarts the fire and escapes off the boat. Then there is a zoom in on some ropes sitting on the boat. The reason for that is unclear, however, we soon forget it, as we see Roger "Verbal" Kint on the stand giving his testimony. Then we meet the suspects as they are getting arrested six weeks prior- McManus, Hockney, Fenster, and Keaton. We are keyed into their characters a little more as we see the lineup.
McManus, as Verbal says, is crazy. He has no respect for or fear of the police, and pretty much does whatever he wants. He is very serious about what he does. As we see while they are in the jail cell, McManus is very antagonistic with Keaton. He is also very impulsive. Fenster is McManus’ partner. He is not very well spoken, and his accent makes it difficult to be understood, but he knows what he’s doing, and he’s good at his job. Hockney doesn’t care about anyone or anything. He is suspicious of everything, including "the Gimp." He does not care who he pisses off, or what the consequences of anything he does are. Keaton is trying to go straight. When Dave Kujan arrested him he was in the middle of a business meeting. He tries to convince everyone including himself that he is no longer crooked. Kint was surprised that he was called in the lineup. Still, he thought, "It was fun. I got to make like I was notorious."
Once in the jail cell, we learn that the other four suspects all knew each other, or at least had heard of each other, but Keaton was the only one who knew Kint, since he was only a small time criminal. While they’re there, McManus tells them about a job he and Fenster had heard about. Hockney and Kint were both interested, but Keaton wanted nothing to do with it.
We then see what is left of the boat "the next day," with dead, charred bodies floating in the water. There we first see Jack Baer. It then cuts to a plane and we hear Dave Kujan’s answering machine, and learn that he has traveled from New York to San Francisco to question Verbal Kint. Jeff Rabin does not want to let Kujan talk to him at first. He tells him how the DA was ready to arraign Kint, but after his lawyer arrived he was only given a weapons misdemeanor charge. Kujan eventually persuades Rabin to let him question Kint in Rabin’s office.
It then cuts to Jack Baer in the hospital with the only other survivor, Arkash Kobash, a burn victim who only speaks Hungarian. Baer gets on the phone to try to find someone who speaks Hungarian to come to the hospital and translate for him. The guy starts screaming the name "Keyser Soze." Baer then tells whoever he is speaking with to find David Kujan.
After that it goes back to the San Francisco police department. Kint is sitting in Rabin’s office alone, scanning everything in it. Kujan is wired, then is introduced to Verbal Kint. At first Verbal is unwilling to answer any questions. He asks for coffee, and Rabin goes to get him some. Then Kint starts rambling about a barbershop quartet he was in back in Skokie, IL, and how he had once wanted to be a cop. He tells Kujan that Keaton was a good man and asks for a cigarette. He takes out his own lighter one very similar to one "Keyser" had, but since he is unable to use his left hand he finds it difficult to light the cigarette. Kujan begins threatening Kint who then states "I’m not a rat." Kint begins rambling again, this time about picking beans in Guatemala.
Kujan eventually gets Kint to start talking about what happened after the lineup. He tells Kujan about what happened after they left the police station. Keaton’s girlfriend, Edie Fineran, who also happened to be a lawyer, walked out with him. Keaton tells her that he’s finished, that they’re never going to stop. Edie tries to console him and tells him she loves him, but he doesn’t hear her, as he is looking around at all the other suspects who were still around, watching him. We hear Kint’s voice over as he tells Kujan that they needed Keaton for the job. It then cuts to Edie’s house where we see Kint trying to persuade Keaton to join them. Kint tells him "They won’t let me in without you." Finally Keaton agrees to do the job, stopping New York’s finest taxi service. They then plan to travel to California to deliver the dope to McManus’ friend, Redfoot.
We are then taken back to the office, where Kujan listens incredulously, unwilling to believe that Keaton was not the brains behind the whole thing. Kint tells him that he wasn’t but Kujan refuses to believe him, and Kint that Keaton had died two years earlier. Jack Baer gets a translator and finds out that they were not selling dope on the boat, they were selling people. Kobash says he has seen the devil, and when Baer asks him his name he says Keyser Soze. Back at the office, Kujan continues telling Kint about Keaton’s death. Kint told him that Keaton wasn’t behind anything, but the lawyer was. Kujan asks who was the lawyer. Kint acts as though he did not hear him and starts talking about the barbershop quartet again. Kujan gets into his face and begins to intimidate him again, saying he will get "no immunity from me." Kint breaks down and starts telling him about Kobayashi.
Kint tells them how they traveled to California to meet Redfoot and give him the goods. Redfoot offers then another job, a drug bust where they get to keep all of the money found on the guy. Keaton at first refuses to do it, but eventually is coerced into it again. However, things are more complicated than they thought and three men are killed, Saul Berg and his bodyguards. When they realize there is all dope and no cash they get angry, and McManus threatens to kill Redfoot. Redfoot tells them that he got the job from some lawyer who is a middle man for someone, and they demand to see him. Ironically he had wanted to meet them, too.
Jack Baer goes to visit Kujan and tells him there was no dope deal. He also tells Kujan about Keyser Soze. Kujan asks Kint about him, and Kint becomes distressed.
There is another flashback as we see the suspects waiting for the middle man. They try to figure out who could have tracked them from New York. Hockney starts to leave. Kobayashi walks out of the shadows stops them. He tells them "I work for Keyser Soze." He then basically blackmails them into doing one more job, one in which they will almost certainly be killed, but if they are not, they will have $91 million dollars to split between the survivors. Kobayashi does so by telling them about jobs they did where they stole from Keyser Soze unknowingly. He then leaves them with envelopes containing information about everything they had ever done. Kint asks them "Who is Keyser Soze?"
He answers that question for Kujan by saying "the greatest trick the devil ever pulled was convincing the world that he didn’t exist." He then begins to tell Kujan Soze’s story. Once a small time dope dealer, his wife and kids were once threatened by men who wanted to shut him out of business. They broke into his home, raped his wife, killed his son, and told Soze that they would kill the rest of his family unless he gave up his business. Then Soze "showed these men of will what will really was." He told them that "he would rather see his family dead than live another day after this." He then killed the men, killed his family, and killed everyone associated with them. "And like that… he’s gone." All of this is considered a myth, a ghost story for all criminals. Kujan asks him if he believes in him. Kint answers, "Keaton once 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." Kujan offers him protection from Soze if he goes on the stand. Kint asks him, "Do you think a guy like that comes this close to getting caught then sticks his head out? If he comes up for anything it’ll be to get rid of me. After that, my guess is you’ll never hear from him again."
Verbal tells Kujan that Fenster had bailed, unwilling to work for Soze. Later that evening Kobayashi called and told them that Fenster was dead on the beach. Hockney says that he is going to run, too. Keaton tells him if he tries to run he will be killed as well. They bury Fenster in the sand. Keaton persuades everyone not to run. They plan a way to kill Kobayashi.
That plan also backfires on them. They kidnap Kobayashi on the 20th floor of the building he works in. They tell him that they are not going to do the job and tell him to call it off. Kobayashi seems unmoved by the threat of death. McManus aims to shoot him, but he tells them that he has Edie Fineran in San Francisco. He then tells them that unless they do the job for Keyser Soze those closest to them will die.
The next day they sit in the car talking about how they’re going to do the job. Keaton says it’s impossible. McManus tells him "there’s nothing that can’t be done." Kint tries to talk them out of it, telling them he "can’t believe we’re going to walk into certain death." We then see later that evening as they prepare to attack. Keaton tells Verbal to stay where he is. The others move in and begin looking for the dope. Hockney gets to the van with the money, but is then shot.
It then goes back to the office. Kujan asks Kint why he didn’t run. Kint said he was scared. Then Baer and Rabin called Kujan back into the office. They tell Kujan that there was a guy named Otoro Marquez who was planning to rat on about 50 people, one of whom was Keyser Soze. Kujan goes back to the office and tells Kint the story as he knew it.
We then see Marquez sitting in a room by himself. He begins screaming that Keyser Soze was there. It cuts back to Keaton turning to look after he heard him scream. Keaton and McManus meet up and Keaton tells McManus that there was no coke. So McManus leaves. Keyser Soze goes into Marquez’s room. Marquez tells him "I told them nothing." But Soze shoots him anyway. Then McManus walks out to Keaton and falls over dead from a knife in his back. Kint then limps over to some guy to check his pockets. He hears a gun shot and looks to see a left-handed man shoot Keaton in the back.
It goes back to the office. Kujan keeps badgering Kint about whether he really saw Keaton get shot and if it was Keyser Soze who did it. Kujan asks him why he didn’t help him since he had a gun. Kint said that he was afraid because he knew it was Keyser Soze. He shows Kujan he has no left thumb and asks "How do you shoot the devil in the back? What if you miss?"
He then finishes telling him about the pier. Kint runs behind the ropes that were in the beginning of the film. We then see that sequence from Kint’s position behind the ropes. It zooms in again, but this time we understand why.
It cuts again to the office. Kujan tells Kint about Marquez. He says that Edie was Marquez’s expedition advisor, and Keaton must have known about him. Kujan badgers Kint and tells him that Keaton was Keyser Soze. Kint does not believe him, and Kujan tells him that Edie was shot in a hotel in Pennsylvania. Kint breaks down and admits that everything was Keaton’s idea from the beginning. Kujan, finally satisfied, offers to protect him. He asks Kint to turn state's evidence, but Kint tells him again "I’m not a rat."
Kujan gets his belongings from the jail and leaves. Kujan sits in Rabin’s office, satisfied he has found out what he wanted. Kujan finishes his coffee and looks around. He begins noticing things that were related to what Kint had said. The bulletin board was made in Skokie, Illinois. There was a picture of a lady wanted for some crime who was "orca fat." There was a list of names on a paper, one of which was the name "Redfoot." There was a flyer for something in "Guatemala." Kujan drops his cup and it shatters. The cup was made by a company called "Kobayashi."
Kujan runs out of his office looking for Kint. Kint walks away from the police station, and as he gets further away he loses his limp. His left thumb comes back, and he takes out his lighter again and lights his cigarette with his left hand. A fax comes in with the sketch of Keyser Soze that looks like Verbal. Kint gets in the car with "Kobayashi" and drives away, just before Kujan gets to him. "And like that… he’s gone."
As each segment of the film progresses, our anticipation of what is going to happen changes. During the opening shot the film appears to be about some guy named Keyser. We do not know if he is insane or a hit man or what. However, as we see and hear Kint’s testimony, we realize that the film is going to be about five suspects. When McManus talks about the job and Keaton refuses to do it, we assume that it’s going to be about the job. Our expectations keep changing like that throughout the film. As each flashback progresses we never know what to expect. Once Kobayashi is introduced, and with him the presence of Keyser Soze, we realize that he is instrumental to the plot. Once Kujan hears about Keyser, he automatically assumes that Keaton is he, and leads us to that conclusion, also. Kint’s story casts all doubt from himself. We know that Soze is left handed. Yet Kint does not even have a left thumb. Kint is also a cripple, making it impossible for him not to be noticed. The fact that Kujan seems to be able to get to him so easily makes him appear to not be very strong-willed. He was also very unwilling to do anything for Keyser Soze, and even admitted a couple of times that he was afraid of him. On the other hand, so much emphasis is put on Keaton that when it is suggested that he is Keyser Soze we readily accept it, so that we do not have to wonder anymore. The fact that we see Kint sitting on the boat where Keaton left him right before Hockney, Marquez, and McManus each was killed takes our suspicion even further from him. At times Kint blatantly lied about his whereabouts, or maybe Kujan just imagined it that way. But Kint was able to tell the story in a way that told Kujan everything he thought he knew. As Kint said, "To a cop the explanation's always simple. There's no mystery to the street, no arch criminal behind it all. It if you find a body and you think his brother did it, you're gonna find out you're right." We as the audience became as much inthralled as Kujan to find out who Keyser Soze was, and were willing to believe anything that was thrown out to us. The filmmakers played on this, and set us up for surprise when we find out that all the time we had been listening to Keyser Soze, and we are left in awe at the end when we see how easily he gets away.
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