I'll preface this with the admission that we have nearly 30 years of hindsight on this movie, yet as soon as one applies a bit of logic and reason to pull at its threads, the whole narrative unravels.
First off, the events recounted in the film amount to maybe one step up from the "It was all a dream" ending, effectively amounting to nothing of consequence. If the story bears no consequence, then why does it matter? There's no true mystery, and the misdirection as a result is unfulfilling.
Another element that I grow ever more appreciative of the more I see it pulled off is identifiable motives. Why does the crook sing like a songbird to the cop? He's not under duress or any obligation to spill the tea. Why does the cop listen and also believe the crook's story - especially when the crook describes events that he did not witness and has no reason to know about from the other characters? These titular Usual Suspects aren't friends and don't even particularly trust one another, so it's already a pretty big suspension of disbelief that they would know much about each other's personal lives, let alone care enough to reminisce.
There's also the late stage coincidence that's a bit too tidy and lucky, which is that sketch getting faxed in at the most fortunate/unfortunate moment. What if that fax had come in midway through the story instead of at the end? How is the crook going to talk his way out of that complication? That to me is more intriguing than the movie as is because it ratchets up the suspense and forces the story in a different direction.
I grant that the cast is stellar and the overall production creates an effective noir-like mood, but the story is basically a dressed-up version of that time you got called into the school principal's office and had to make up a bunch of malarkey on the spot about how it was all the other kid's fault.
In terms of Stephen Baldwin's most notable work, Bio-Dome (1996) is a movie that holds up better under multiple viewings. Think about it.
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StoneKeeper (21713)
2 months ago
I’m pretty sure you already know that but bio-dome is my second favourite comedy and the movie I saw the most times. As for the usual suspect I understand that there are some far-fetched ideas that demand suspension of disbelief but the whole story was not pointless or useless as there were bits of truths here and there in this magnificent web of lie.
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FredBurroughs (19876)
2 months ago
I am with you on Bio-Dome for sure. Usual Suspects, though? Bleh.
I'm not saying that one movie is "better" than the other. However, one succeeds completely on its own terms while the other one falls apart with the slightest amount of thought for the reasons I presented, and it just so happens to be named The Usual Suspects.
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