ⓘ Details

Movie TitleThe Usual Suspects

Release DateCannes: May 25, 1995 / U.S. release: August 18, 1995 / Wide release: September 15, 1995

TaglineFive criminals. One line up. No coincidence.

Runtime106 minutes / 1 hour 46 minutes

DirectorBryan Singer

Screenplay Written ByChristopher McQuarrie

Based OnOriginal screenplay by Christopher McQuarrie

Is It a Remake?No. The Usual Suspects is an original crime thriller.

BudgetApproximately $6 million

Box OfficeApprox. $23.3 million domestic / approx. $34.4 million worldwide by The Numbers; some sources report approx. $66.9 million worldwide

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👥 Main Cast

Stephen BaldwinMichael McManus

Gabriel ByrneDean Keaton

Benicio Del ToroFred Fenster

Kevin PollakTodd Hockney

Kevin SpaceyRoger “Verbal” Kint

Chazz PalminteriU.S. Customs Agent Dave Kujan

Pete PostlethwaiteKobayashi

Suzy AmisEdie Finneran

Giancarlo EspositoFBI Agent Jack Baer

Dan HedayaSgt. Jeffrey “Jeff” Rabin

Paul BartelSmuggler

Carl BresslerSaul Berg

Phillipe SimonFortier

Jack ShearerRenault

Clark GreggDr. Walters

Christine EstabrookDr. Plummer

Peter GreeneRedfoot

Castulo GuerraArturo Marquez

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🏆 Awards

⭐ Academy Award Winner — Best Supporting Actor: Kevin Spacey

⭐ Academy Award Winner — Best Original Screenplay: Christopher McQuarrie

⭐ BAFTA Winner — Best Original Screenplay: Christopher McQuarrie

⭐ BAFTA Nominee — Best Film

⭐ BAFTA Nominee — Best Editing: John Ottman

⭐ Golden Globe Nominee — Best Supporting Actor: Kevin Spacey

⭐ Independent Spirit Award Winner — Best Supporting Male: Benicio Del Toro

⭐ Independent Spirit Award Winner — Best Screenplay: Christopher McQuarrie

⭐ National Board of Review Winner — Special Recognition for Excellence in Filmmaking

⭐ Writers Guild of America ranked the screenplay among its 101 Greatest Screenplays.

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📖 Short Plot Summary

After a deadly explosion on a ship in San Pedro Bay, small-time con man Roger “Verbal” Kint is brought in for questioning by U.S. Customs Agent Dave Kujan. Verbal explains how he and four other criminals — Dean Keaton, Michael McManus, Fred Fenster, and Todd Hockney — met during a police lineup and were pulled into an increasingly dangerous criminal scheme. As Verbal’s story unfolds, everything points toward the shadowy crime lord Keyser Söze. But the deeper Kujan digs, the harder it becomes to tell what is confession, what is manipulation, and what has been hiding in plain sight the entire time.

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❝ Key Quotes

“The greatest trick the Devil ever pulled was convincing the world he didn’t exist.” — Verbal Kint

“And like that… he’s gone.” — Verbal Kint

“Who is Keyser Söze?” — Tagline / Central question

“I believe in God, and the only thing that scares me is Keyser Söze.” — Verbal Kint

“How do you shoot the Devil in the back? What if you miss?” — Verbal Kint

“Back when I was picking beans in Guatemala, we used to make fresh coffee, right off the trees.” — Fenster

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💡 Trivia

Director

The Usual Suspects was directed by Bryan Singer.
The screenplay was written by Christopher McQuarrie.
The title was inspired by the famous line from Casablanca: “Round up the usual suspects.”
The film’s structure turns an interrogation into a puzzle box, using flashbacks, unreliable narration, and misdirection to keep the audience chasing the wrong answer.
AFI later named The Usual Suspects one of the top mystery films in its “10 Top 10” list.

Cast / Casting

Kevin Spacey plays Roger “Verbal” Kint and won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor.
Gabriel Byrne plays Dean Keaton, the ex-cop turned criminal whom Agent Kujan believes is the key to the case.
Benicio Del Toro plays Fred Fenster and developed the character’s distinctive, barely understandable speech pattern.
Chazz Palminteri plays Agent Dave Kujan, the investigator trying to force the truth out of Verbal.
Stephen Baldwin, Kevin Pollak, Gabriel Byrne, Benicio Del Toro, and Kevin Spacey make up the iconic lineup that anchors the film’s central image.
Giancarlo Esposito appears as FBI Agent Jack Baer, while Dan Hedaya plays Sgt. Rabin.

Soundtrack / Score

The score was composed by John Ottman.
Ottman also edited the film, giving him unusual control over both rhythm and musical tension.
The soundtrack includes cues such as “Main Theme,” “Getting on Board,” “The Story Begins,” “Farewell Fenster,” and “Verbal Kint.”
The score supports the film’s noir mood, heist tension, and slow-burn reveal structure.
The music works hand-in-hand with the editing to keep the viewer off balance while Verbal’s story keeps changing shape.

Location

The story moves between New York City and Los Angeles, with the explosive mystery centered on San Pedro Bay.
The film was shot in Los Angeles, San Pedro, and New York City.
IMDb lists the Korean Friendship Bell at Angel’s Gate Park in San Pedro among the filming locations.
The harbor and shipyard locations give the movie its industrial crime-thriller atmosphere.
The interrogation room is one of the movie’s most important locations, turning a plain police office into the stage for one of cinema’s most famous cons.

Behind-The-Scenes

The film was produced by Bryan Singer and Michael McDonnell.
Newton Thomas Sigel served as cinematographer, and John Ottman edited the film.
The film was made on a modest budget of about $6 million.
The police lineup scene became famous because the actors struggled to keep from laughing during takes.
According to production accounts, the film was shot in about 35 days.
The “Who is Keyser Söze?” marketing campaign became a major part of the film’s release identity.

Nostalgia

The Usual Suspects became one of the defining crime thrillers of the 1990s.
The film’s final reveal helped make twist endings a major part of 1990s and early-2000s thriller culture.
The lineup poster became one of the decade’s most recognizable crime-movie images.
Keyser Söze became shorthand for a mysterious puppet master hiding in plain sight.
For movie fans, it remains a classic “watch it twice” film: once to be fooled, and again to see how the trick was built.

Easter Eggs

The title’s connection to Casablanca gives the movie a built-in old-Hollywood crime-film wink.
The cluttered bulletin board and office details become crucial to understanding the final reveal.
Names, locations, and story details in Verbal’s confession are hiding in plain sight throughout Kujan’s office.
The coffee cup becomes one of the film’s most famous visual payoffs.
The final walk outside the police station transforms a character detail into one of the most memorable closing moments in 1990s cinema.

Misc.

The Usual Suspects is rated R.
Box Office Mojo classifies the film as crime, drama, mystery, and thriller.
Rotten Tomatoes’ critics consensus praises the film’s shooting, editing, layered deceit, twists, violence, and rug-pull ending.
The film won two Academy Awards: Best Supporting Actor and Best Original Screenplay.
Your 3 Guys and a Flick ratings page lists the episode as Episode 179, with Don rating it 4.00, Ken rating it 4.25, Jon rating it 3.00, and an overall rating of 3.75.

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