The Usual Suspects

“Round up the usual suspects,” Claude Rains wearily orders his men in Casablanca. This elegantly mischievous thriller certainly has plenty of suspicious characters, but it’s very unusual in how it leads us through a labyrinthine yarn involving five criminals unwittingly brought together in a police cell due to one thing they have in common: the master criminal Keyser Söze, who may or may not exist…

X-Men director Bryan Singer has had more than a few ups and downs since (as have some of his cast) but this, his second movie, written by his childhood friend Christopher McQuarrie, holds up as a devilish mystery with some of the most colourful supporting performances this side of The Maltese Falcon. Benicio del Toro steals the show even though (or rather, because) we can’t understand a word he says.

It’s a nerve-shredding suspense movie about corruption, a bravura actor’s show full of deliciously twisted cops and robbers, and a complex riddle packed with unexpected turns.

Michael Wilmington, Chicago Tribune

Singer creates a classy, thought-provoking mystery that is pleasingly old-fashioned and absolutely modern in the sly, slightly self-conscious play it makes with myth and methods of storytelling.

Geoff Andrew, Time Out

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