The (Un)usual Suspect

WARNING: THIS PIECE CONTAINS HEAVY SPOILERS ON THE 1995 FILM "THE USUAL SUSPECTS". I ADVISE YOU TO WATCH THE FILM BEFORE READING.

One of the definitive factors that influences my choices on Saturday movie night is looking at the poster and the Netflix description and figuring out through my pure intuition, what I think the plot twist might be, or if there is even a twist. However, not all of these twists are quite the gut-punching, satisfactory roller coaster they advertise themselves as. Some of them leave a bitter taste in your mouth, a blow of contrivance to your brain. If there were to be a perfect plot twist, there is one movie that stands above all other moments of plot twists in pop culture. It is the infamous ending of Bryan Singer’s The Usual Suspects. 

The Usual Suspects follows the interrogation of a crippled con artist in New York named Verbal Kint, who details a criminal operation on a boat that only left two alive, including himself. Verbal claims that urban legend and presumed crime lord, Keyser Soze, was the one who controlled him and four others: Fenster, MacManus, Hockney, and Keaton. He details his journey, from a meeting with a “fence” named Redfoot, an underling named Kobayashi working for Keyser Soze, and Soze’s promise to spare their lives if they destroy a shipment of cocaine and the gangs related to them on a boat. 

The twist? When Agent Kujan, the US Customs agent investigating the case, realizes the only man who recognizes Keyser Soze was killed on the boat, he becomes certain that Keaton, the most experienced member in the group and a former NYPD officer, was Keyser Soze. Verbal gives in and confesses with teary eyes that Keaton was the one who orchestrated the heist on the boat and manipulated the other four. Moments later, Kujan realizes that Verbal made up his story on the spot using pieces of information he found on a bulletin board: Kobayashi from the bottom of Kujan’s coffee cup, and Redfoot from a mugshot on the board in front of him. While Kujan rushes out to find him, Verbal slowly straightens his crippled foot, unclenches his crippled hand, and leaves in Kobayashi’s car, certifying that he was, in fact, Keyser Soze. Brilliant.

But what makes this final ten-minute segment so great?

First, the presumed truth makes sense and is plenty reasonable on its own. Five criminals start bonding after the NYPD falsely suspects them of being perpetrators of a truck heist, seeking revenge on the police officers who accused them. The five begin to work as a team, mostly stealing jewels with the help of a transporter named Redfoot. When one of these heists goes wrong, it is revealed that Kobayashi was the one who arranged its failure. Kobayashi, speaking on behalf of Keyser Soze, claims that all of them have stolen from him and threatens to kill them and their loved ones if they do not destroy the boat. Those alive after the mission will be given a sum of $91 million.

There are many reasons why we should believe Verbal’s story. According to his narrative, all five members have stolen from Soze in some way. We also witness the death of Fenster, who is found dead in a cave after he tries to escape from Kobayashi. Though the story is told discontinuously, there seems to be no noticeable error or trouble with continuity in how Verbal narrates the story. We can only assume that, as crime veterans in their own right, MacManus does have a connection with a fencer off the radar named Redfoot, and that Keyzer Soze sends dispatches or underlings such as Kobayashi to negotiate on his behalf. The story is not over the top, nor is the dialogue itself unnatural in any way. It flows like any other story.

There is also reason to believe that Keaton is the mastermind behind the operation and the identity behind Keyser Soze. From the inception of the team of usual suspects, Keaton becomes the dominating member of the group. Although he is not in the planning stage, he asserts himself as a good leader as well as a skilled tactician. From the way he treats and uses Verbal, such as asking him to accompany his visit to his girlfriend, Edie Finneran, Verbal seems like a pawn to Keaton. Keaton is the first to know there is no cocaine on the boat, and the last to be “killed”, after the deaths of Hockney and MacManus. 

The beauty of the presumed truth in this film is also supported by the fact that the interests of Agent Kujan and the gang do not align. While the members of the gang simply choose to board the boat out of survival and profit, the NYPD also runs a joint investigation on who Keyser Soze actually is. We, as the audience, are forced to follow both, heightening the significance of this presumed truth.  

Second, yet less importantly, the plot twist does not operate for the sake of the exposition or presumed truth. Although some twists tend to convolute or degrade the efforts of the characters done previously through a massive yet simple twist, The Usual Suspects expertly ties the narrative together. We see how Verbal improvised the story, as well as the reasoning behind his facade as a cripple, choosing to be weak while incriminating a friend.

But perhaps the most important element of the twist is its execution. Unlike most movies, where the twist is revealed towards the end, and there is about half an hour more screen time where the twist produces new action, The Usual Suspects ends on a high note when Verbal is revealed to be Keyser Soze all along. The buildup to the reveal is also done expertly. It starts with Kujan, proudly yet absent-mindedly looking at the bulletin board. Then he starts seeing elements of Verbal’s story unfold in front of his eyes. Bricks Marlin from the fish that Rabin, the owner of the office, caught. The barbershop quartet from a metal plate in the left corner. The Guatemala story from a large coffee poster. And finally, the name Kobayashi, coming from the coffee cup that has been hovering over his head for hours. Then, there is a short montage, with a shot of Verbal as Soze that only appears for a split second. The deaths of Hockney, MacManus, and Keaton soon follow. Then, a faxed drawing from a witness at the hospital that looks oddly like Verbal. And then there’s the infamous scene with his feet, which completes the movie. 

It’s short and sweet, but it also takes its time. The scene does not immediately start with the faxed drawing of Verbal, but instead focuses on Kujan’s hubris and his fallacy of having completed the mission when it is far from over. Although abrupt and having no advancement of plot afterwards, this serves as a better ending to the film itself, considering the attention the name Keyser Soze has gotten until this point.

It's simple, yet effective. And in my mind, no twist will ever be better than this one.