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MovieMeditation presents...
HIS FILM DIARY 2015
total movie count ........... current day count
225 .......................... 241
__________________________
June 16th
—— 1995 ——
————— THE —————
USUAL SUSPECTS
—— crime ——
REWATCH
The greatest trick the Devil ever pulled
was convincing the world he didn’t exist…
There will be spoilers within this review
My initial viewing of this was anything but usual, since I think the hype around the movie clouded my mind to a certain point, where it would confuse my ability to focus on what I was currently watching. I would like to think that I was suspect to the classic phenomenon of expecting something more or something else entirely. I guess the hype made me expect a twist so extraordinary, that the rest of the film appeared less than ordinary. I kept thinking about the oncoming ending so much, that I kind of forgot to focus on the actual story, which made the twist come off as confusing and extremely convoluted. I didn’t feel like it was breathtaking at all, though I was definitely running out of breath when trying to follow an investigation I wasn't properly invested in from the start; putting my focus in all the wrong places along the way. Because, in reality, this story isn’t about what happened or what is about to happen – it is a story about what is happening and what hasn't even happened at all.
Many people will probably label this as a one-time experience that doesn’t need further solving, usually before even watching the film, only knowing that it is one of those with a twist ending. But despite the story having a twist the film is actually best viewed as an old case, which has been dug up again, dusted off and closely re-examined. Because with a second viewing, you actually know what is really going on and what will eventually be revealed in the end of the film. This makes you pay attention to every little visual portrayal of every tiny verbal detail, which is being told by Verbal himself throughout. You could almost say that the pay-off doesn't really pay off if you are watching it all from the perspective of the police officers. As long as you are not in the shoes of Kevin Spacey’s character, following every imaginative footstep of Verbal’s genius mind, you simply won’t be able to spot the brilliance within a story that is so complex about said brilliance. It is kind of like this complicated math problem that you have been sitting with for far too long, where you are hardly even paying attention anymore to what you are doing, until all of a sudden, you arrive to the correct calculation. But you won’t actually understand anything about it, not until you go back and look at every little step you made towards the correct result. What I’m trying to say here, is that the brilliance and admiration of the work lies beyond the conclusion – within all of what came before it and lead up to it.
I won’t deny that it is very amusing and at times mindboggling to follow every little breadcrumb laid out by Verbal at the police office, and it is most certainly fun to see him take a dump on every cop and every agent on duty, derailing their lead several times throughout. But that doesn’t mean that the made-up story created by Verbal is boring or uninteresting at all. Even though I feel like wanting to critique the story for feeling messy and nonlinear, kind of like it was made up as it went along, that would be kind of ironic wouldn’t it? If you ask me about the story centered on the so-called “usual suspects”, I wouldn’t call it great because of the story that plays out, but because of the characters themselves and how they move this mindless mindf*ck forward. These characters are definitely what excites me the most about that aspect of the story, since they are so diverse and different from… well… your usual suspects.
These carefully written characters are once again evidence of the elegantly executed screenplay by Christopher McQuarrie, capturing a cool line-up of unique distinctive caricatures, who are not only physically interesting but also have some killer-quotes chained together with their individual identities. Kevin Spacey is definitely captivating as the mind behind it all, Verbal, while the character of Benicio Del Toro is the person who have me totally and utterly hooked! He might be one of my favorite characters ever created, actually. Every time that guy says something or does something I can’t contain myself and usually burst out in laughter. Anyways, I really wish Bryan Singer would do more work like this, because he did a great job directing something that looked to be almost inadaptable at first sight. But you will have to pay close attention, if you are to catch it all and not get caught up in the mystery yourself. Because if you look away just for one second, or even blink for less than a second, you will miss it. And like that… it’s gone.
__________________________
HIS FILM DIARY 2015
total movie count ........... current day count
225 .......................... 241
__________________________
June 16th
—— 1995 ——
————— THE —————
USUAL SUSPECTS
—— crime ——
REWATCH
The greatest trick the Devil ever pulled
was convincing the world he didn’t exist…
There will be spoilers within this review
My initial viewing of this was anything but usual, since I think the hype around the movie clouded my mind to a certain point, where it would confuse my ability to focus on what I was currently watching. I would like to think that I was suspect to the classic phenomenon of expecting something more or something else entirely. I guess the hype made me expect a twist so extraordinary, that the rest of the film appeared less than ordinary. I kept thinking about the oncoming ending so much, that I kind of forgot to focus on the actual story, which made the twist come off as confusing and extremely convoluted. I didn’t feel like it was breathtaking at all, though I was definitely running out of breath when trying to follow an investigation I wasn't properly invested in from the start; putting my focus in all the wrong places along the way. Because, in reality, this story isn’t about what happened or what is about to happen – it is a story about what is happening and what hasn't even happened at all.
Many people will probably label this as a one-time experience that doesn’t need further solving, usually before even watching the film, only knowing that it is one of those with a twist ending. But despite the story having a twist the film is actually best viewed as an old case, which has been dug up again, dusted off and closely re-examined. Because with a second viewing, you actually know what is really going on and what will eventually be revealed in the end of the film. This makes you pay attention to every little visual portrayal of every tiny verbal detail, which is being told by Verbal himself throughout. You could almost say that the pay-off doesn't really pay off if you are watching it all from the perspective of the police officers. As long as you are not in the shoes of Kevin Spacey’s character, following every imaginative footstep of Verbal’s genius mind, you simply won’t be able to spot the brilliance within a story that is so complex about said brilliance. It is kind of like this complicated math problem that you have been sitting with for far too long, where you are hardly even paying attention anymore to what you are doing, until all of a sudden, you arrive to the correct calculation. But you won’t actually understand anything about it, not until you go back and look at every little step you made towards the correct result. What I’m trying to say here, is that the brilliance and admiration of the work lies beyond the conclusion – within all of what came before it and lead up to it.
I won’t deny that it is very amusing and at times mindboggling to follow every little breadcrumb laid out by Verbal at the police office, and it is most certainly fun to see him take a dump on every cop and every agent on duty, derailing their lead several times throughout. But that doesn’t mean that the made-up story created by Verbal is boring or uninteresting at all. Even though I feel like wanting to critique the story for feeling messy and nonlinear, kind of like it was made up as it went along, that would be kind of ironic wouldn’t it? If you ask me about the story centered on the so-called “usual suspects”, I wouldn’t call it great because of the story that plays out, but because of the characters themselves and how they move this mindless mindf*ck forward. These characters are definitely what excites me the most about that aspect of the story, since they are so diverse and different from… well… your usual suspects.
These carefully written characters are once again evidence of the elegantly executed screenplay by Christopher McQuarrie, capturing a cool line-up of unique distinctive caricatures, who are not only physically interesting but also have some killer-quotes chained together with their individual identities. Kevin Spacey is definitely captivating as the mind behind it all, Verbal, while the character of Benicio Del Toro is the person who have me totally and utterly hooked! He might be one of my favorite characters ever created, actually. Every time that guy says something or does something I can’t contain myself and usually burst out in laughter. Anyways, I really wish Bryan Singer would do more work like this, because he did a great job directing something that looked to be almost inadaptable at first sight. But you will have to pay close attention, if you are to catch it all and not get caught up in the mystery yourself. Because if you look away just for one second, or even blink for less than a second, you will miss it. And like that… it’s gone.
__________________________