Classic 90s Movie: “The Usual Suspects”

May is Classic 90s Movie month. Today’s guest post comes from ‘Verbal Kint’.

Movie Title: The Usual Suspects

Year: 1995

Writers: Christopher McQuarrie, winner Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay

Lead Actors: Stephen Baldwin, Gabriel Byrne, Benicio Del Toro, Kevin Pollak, Kevin Spacey (Won an Oscar), Chazz Palminteri

Director: Bryan Singer

IMDB Plot Summary: A boat has been destroyed, criminals are dead, and the key to this mystery lies with the only survivor and his twisted, convoluted story beginning with five career crooks in a seemingly random police lineup.

Why I Think This Is A Classic 90s Movies: It was one of my favorite movies as soon as I saw it. Once the movie was over, I immediately wanted to watch it again. Anyone who’s seen the movie will understand why, but I’ll avoid spoilers for this nineteen-year-old movie for anyone who hasn’t seen it.

This may have been the first movie I saw that I wanted to watch more a second time. Perhaps it sparked my interest in movies that you yearn to watch multiple times. I love movies that are great the first time and perhaps even better the second or third time.

My Favorite Moment In The Movie: The ending, which I won’t give away (Maybe there’s someone out there lucky enough to experience this movie fresh, for the first time.)

My Favorite Dialogue In the Movie: I recall Fenster’s dialogue; Benicio del Toro’s character (from my memory):

“I say he’ll flip ya.”
“He’ll what?”
“Flip ya, flip ya for real.”

(That’s from memory, so it might not be 100%, but considering I never memorize dialogue, it says something that it stuck with me for 19 years.)

Key Things You Should Look For When Watching This Movie: If you’ve never seen this movie before, look for nothing. Just watch it fresh. After that, you’ll know what you want to look for upon re-watching.

This reminds me that I haven’t seen this movie in a long time. Now, I want to see it again.

Thanks, ‘Verbal’! To show our gratitude for your guest post, here’s a dash of creative juju for you. Whoosh!

We already have a set of 80s Movies. This month we cover 90s movies. So thanks to all of you for your participation in this project, creating a resource for writers, movies they should watch to help learn the craft of screenwriting!

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