The Usual Suspects Essay

Cinematic pieces that develop around individuals whom deem themselves outside the law are typically placed in the genre Crime. Furthermore, crime films typically focus on sinister actions of anarchistic criminals, such as robbing, scheming, killing, and manipulating people into doing what they want when they want without any interruptions. However, not every aspect of these films revolve around criminals or their actions; there’s always an underlying layer of thrill, anticipation, and occasionally brilliant humor. Bryan Singer’s film, The Usual Suspects, highlights all of the dark and cynical aspects of the crime genre by providing its audiences with coatings of deception, suspense, twists, turns, and brutality right before deciding to pull

What makes someone a crook or more specifically, a wanted felon, is someone who acknowledges the laws emplaced for the better good, but instead, chooses to ignore them for their own selfish benefit. In the same fashion, The Usual Suspects’ portrayal of the five main criminals illustrates they don’t care for anyone but themselves. For example, Verbal voiced after their interrogations, “what the cops never figured out, and what I know now, was that these men would never break, never lie down, never bend over for anybody.” This explains how Verbal, also known as, Keyser Soze, could look his partners in the face, specifically his so-called best friend Keaton, and shoot them without hesitation. Of course, all criminals are humans and all humans have weaknesses, especially when it concerns love. Keaton, for instance, declared himself a “businessman” multiple times in the film, thus signifying his retirement in the crime industry of New York City. Keaton’s romantic relationship with Edie Finnegan influenced his self-claimed retirement, which shined through his decision to not kill Soze’s assistant, Kobayashi. Moreover, the deception and violence portrayed throughout the film are nothing short of typical criminal acts. The extravagant twists and turns Verbal described to police