Who is Keyser Soze?

The Ususal Suspects

Director: Bryan Singer

Cast: Kevin Spacey, Gabriel Bryne, Stephen Baldwin, Kevin Pollack, Benicio Del Toro

Released: 8/16/95

Oscar nominations:

Best Supporting Actor - Kevin Spacey (won)

Best Original Screenplay - Christopher McQuarrie (won)

Google "movies with twist endings" and chances are The Usual Suspects will always appear on all of them. While, yes, this film does have a great twist ending and is best known for it, the appeal of the movie diminishes when you watch it a second time, already knowing who Keyser Soze is. The reveal for me the first time I saw this movie was like opening a great birthday present. Watching it again is like opening a birthday gift that you already know what's inside and there's no element of surprise.

Of course, there's always benefits to watching a movie a second time to see if you can spot the clues that lead up to the big reveal, which of course is my favorite scene (and probably everyone else's favorite scene from this movie!) My second favorite scene would have to be the line up. I read that Singer meant for that scene to be a very serious, but all the actors kept cracking up (probably because of the line they had to say; I wouldn't be able to stop laughing either) and finally just went with the funniest take.

There is no one lead in the movie; everyone is supporting. In fact, if there was a lead, it would probably be Spacey even though he won the Oscar for SUPPORTING actor. But I would say he has the most screentime.

And just for fun, I thought I'd share five movies with my favorite twists. If you haven't seen any of the movies I start talking about, I would advise you not to watch any further! SPOILERS!