Les Jones

Where's Verbal?

Spoilers ahead if you haven't seen the movie.

So I watched The Usual Suspects for the 15th time last night and noticed something new. At the beginning of the movie, you see each of the characters being picked up by the NYPD. But something's missing. You never see Verbal Kent being arrested. How come? Is that an oversight by the directors, or is it a clue that he's Keyser Soze and he engineered the lineup? (It's also possible that Verbal just works for Soze.)

Going to California

Spoilers ahead if you haven't seen the movie.

If Keyser Zose planned everything, how did he get the gang from New York to LA? He had to have them in California to destroy the cocaine on the boat.

So, who decided they'd go to Califonia? McManus had to go to meet his fence, Redfoot. Kent asked if that meant he was going to California. Hockney objected strenuously to McManus and Fenster taking the jewels to California and leaving the rest of them behind. Keaton took charge and said that LA would be a good place to lay low for a while. It's ambiguous: no one person made the decision.

PS I created a new heading for Suspects-related posts.

Giancarlo Esposito

Giancarlo Esposito - who played FBI agent Jack Baer in The Usual Suspects - is on tonight's new episode of Law &Order. He's clean-shaven right now, so he looks a little different, but his voice is unmistakable.

Dan Hedaya and Chazz Palminteri

I was at my mom's house tonight and caught the beginning of a show called "Yes, Dear." Dan Hedaya (Jeff Rabin in The Usual Suspects) was a guest star. He's apparently a recurring character.

In the last day I also saw a Vanilla Coke commercial with Chazz Palminteri (Dave Cujan). With Giancarlo Esposito on Law and Order last Wednesday, it's old home week.

The Gold Watch and Cigarette Lighter

Spoilers ahead if you haven't seen the movie.

When Verbal makes bail and collects his personal property at the end of the movie, he's given back his gold watch and cigarette lighter from the property clerk. It's an incidental scene that doesn't seem important, but it's a clue.

When Keiser Soze shoots Keaton at the beginning of the movie, he's sporting a gold watch and cigarette lighter. The director makes careful note of that by having him light a cigarette, which lights up his face, leading Keaton to say "I can't feel my legs... Keiser." Then Keaton asks him what time it is and we see the gold watch. I only picked that up after watching the movie for the 19th time on Wednesday. What I lack in lightning insights I make up for in dogged persistence.

Actor Peter Greene, Uncredited Roles, and Missing Scenes

Reader Tana responded to a Usual Suspects post and praised Peter Greene, the actor who plays Redfoot the jewel fence. I hadn't known that actor's name before, so I looked up his filmography on Internet Movie Database.

It turns out I had seen him before and hadn't realized it. Peter Greene was Zed in Pulp Fiction. He also played Dorian Tyrell in The Mask (the Jim Carrey movie), which I didn't watch until after I saw Tana's post. It was on TBS tonight.

The reason I hadn't known his name in The Usual Suspects is that he was uncredited. The movie manages to make room in the credits for Smuggler, Old Cop, and Bodyguards #1-4. It's a mystery why Greene didn't get credit for an excellent performance in a named speaking role.

Tana also points to this Peter Greene profile, which unflinchingly describes the heroin habit Greene had during most of his film career:

Unlike some no less tragic has-been actors, the fiercely talented Greene delivers. Marginally talented or charismatic screwups are a dime a dozen, but a true junkie artist is a rarity. And in Hollywood, such creatures are deified for living outside of the lines of self-control and responsibility until an industry of celebrity winds up flourishing around their tombstones.

During filming on The Usual Suspects, Greene luxuriously improvised a memorable filmic moment by flicking a lit cigarette into Stephen Baldwin's face. Suspects writer Christopher McQuarrie calls Greene a "million-dollar day player," which could be translated as "Get him in, nail the money shot, and get him out before he wreaks havoc."

Greene improvised that scene? Then I guess Stephen Baldwin improvised acting like he was going to rip Greene's arms off.

Here's another piece of Greene trivia from that scene. In the original script, Redfoot's men ride in the Cadillac, and Redfoot drives a motorcycle:

The car, Redfoot's escort Caddy, is now in front of them. The horn lets out three short blasts. Redfoot comes around from behind the Caddy on his motorcycle. He gets off the bike, trying to hide a faint smile. McManus throws Saul's case on the ground in front of him.

In the movie, you never see Redfoot again, but the script had a grisly end planned for him.

79 EXT. PARKING LOT - NIGHT - TWO WEEKS PRIOR 79

Redfoot's Harley rests on the roof of the Caddy in a mangled
heap. The body of the Caddy is riddled with bullet holes.

Redfoot's dead body has been shoved head-first through a hole
in the windshield up to his waist, recognizable only by the
trademark red boot.

So Redfoot was supposed to wear red boots. The red boots sticking out of the Cadillac sounds like a Wizard of Oz reference.

So who killed Redfoot? The script makes that clear during the scene when the suspects abduct Kobayashi.

Verbal and McManus grab the dead bodies and drag them out of the elevator. They drag them to the next elevator which has been forced open, revealing an empty shaft.

KEATON
The answer is no.

KOBAYASHI
Mr. Soze will be most -

KEATON
Listen to me, cocksucker. There is no
Keyser Soze. If you say his name again,
I'll kill you right here.

KOBAYASHI
A strange threat. I can only assume
you're here to kill me anyway. Pity about
Mr. Redfoot.

McMANUS
Fair trade for Fenster.

The Korean Bell of Friendship

Reader Tana* has another find. I had Googled without luck to try to find the actual place where the suspects met Redfoot. I refered to it as "the Asian temple" because of its architecture. Tana linked to The Usual Supects entry at Movie-Locations.com:

It was shot mainly around Los Angeles, with just a bit of New York thrown in. The huge bell, where the suspects meet up with Redfoot, is the Korean Bell of Friendship, Angels Gate Park, South Gaffey Street down in San Pedro. The bell, presented by Korea during the US bicentennial celebrations in 1976, is on a breathtaking wild bluff overlooking the harbour of San Pedro to the east and the Palos Verdes Peninsula to the west. Take time out to get away from the usual tourist spots of LA and drive down to this unexpectedly beautiful spot.

Another mystery solved. I found a bunch of suspects-related material recently. Tune in Wednesday for more. Here's a close-in shot of the bell:

* I keep saying "reader Tana" because my sister's name is Tana, and I want to avoid any confusion for people who know my family.

The Suspects' Ages

Spoilers ahead if you haven't seen the movie.

I discovered the original script online last week and read the whole thing. One small finding was the scriptwriter's suggestion for the character's ages.

Fred Fenster (Benicio Del Toro), "in his thirties"
Todd Hockney (Kevin Pollak), "in his thirties"
Dean Keaton (Gabriel Byrne), listed both as 40 and "in his forties"
Roger "Verbal" Kint (Kevin Spacey), "thirty-odd years"
Michael McManus (Stephen Baldwin), 28

FBI Agent Jack Baer (Giancarlo Esposito), "in his late thirties"
Edie Finneran (Suzy Amis), 33
Arkosh Kovash, "mid-thirties"
U.S. Customs Agent David Kujan (Chazz Palminteri), "thirty-ish"
Sergeant Jeffrey Rabin (Dan Hedaya), "in his late thirties"

This is trivia, though it has some practical bearing on the question of who is Keyser Soze. Sure, Verbal shot the witness on the boat, and he shot Keaton, but I'm not sure that makes him Keyser Soze. There are other explanations that work. For instance, he may be working for Soze. I need to explore that in a lot more depth, but I need to build up to it. For instance, I need to think more about which parts of the movie are reliable, and which parts are unreliable.

More suspects posts next Wednesday.

Arkash Kovosh's Lines in English

Spoilers ahead if you haven't seen the movie.

Arkash Kovash is the sole survivor of the Hungarian gang on the boat. He only speaks Hungarian, and an interpreter has to be brought in to assist in getting a police sketch of Keyser Soze.

In the movie, Kovash's rants are in his native language. In the script, his lines are in English.

Continuity Gaffes in The Usual Suspects

In chapter 8 the emerald smuggler flies into New York City and is met by New York's Finest Taxi Service. "New York's Finest Taxi Service was not your normal taxi service. It was a ring of corrupt cops in the NYPD that ran a high-profit racket driving smuggers and drug dealers all over the city. For a few hundred dollars you got your own blue and white and a police escort."

The movie shows the smuggler's plane arriving, with front and back views of the jet airplane. Do you notice anything wrong?

These aren't front and back views of the same plane. The first plane has four jet engines on the wings. The second plane has two. I wasn't eagle-eyed enough to notice it myself, but Bryan Singer and Chris McQuarrie mention it on the audio commentary track.

I mention this to point out that some anomolies in the movie might be meaningful, or they may just be unintentional oversights, like this one. The commentary track notes other mistakes. In the parking garage robbery, Keaton wrestles a SIG P220 out of Saul Berg's hand and kicks it across the cement floor to McManus. When McManus picks it up, the SIG P220 has turned into a Browning Hi-Power.

"The Greatest Trick the Devil Ever Pulled"

(Reader Tana sent in this post on the best-known quote from the movie. - LJ.)

On the commentary track of The Usual Suspects DVD, Bryan Singer mentions that the line "the greatest trick the devil ever pulled was convincing the world he doesn't exist" is actually from Charles Baudelaire. I checked around on the web and learned that it's from the short story "The Generous Gambler." I found two links that have the story; one is the English translation (a pdf file); the other, the original French. Here are the links:

http://www.horrormasters.com/Text/a0536.pdf
http://baudelaire.litteratura.com/?rub=oeuvre&srub=pop&id=167

The first link is the English translation; the second link is the original French. I don't know if you read French, or perhaps you might not have time to read the whole story, but the original line in the French version is the last sentence (which is in quotes) of the fifth paragraph. The line starts with "Mes chers frères,..." and the actual Usual Suspects quote is:

"...la plus belles ruses du diable est de vous persuader qu'il n'existe pas."

So, a MOVIE incites me to actually sit down and read Baudelaire for the first time ... how shallow am I, eh?

Enjoy.
- Tana

"What Time Is It?"

One thing I never understood was why Keaton asks Keiser Soze "what time is it?" just before Koze kills him. This happens in the opening scene. Keyser Soze is ready to finish off Dean Keaton and asks if he's ready (to die). Keaton asks "What time is it?" Soze looks at his gold watch and tells him "12:30." But why?

The Special Edition DVD contains deleted scenes on the bonus disc. It turns out that at one point in the filming the directors had Keaton planting a bomb in the boat's engine room. He would have known when it was going to go off, which is why he wanted to know the time. That scene was later cut from the movie and the bomb angle dropped, but the "what time is it?" line stayed. Here's the engine room scene with McManus and Keaton:

In that scene Keaton tells McManus there's no cocaine on the boat. They have a confrontation and McManus decides to leave. In the final print of the movie, the scene ends, but the film continues rolling and shows Keaton crouching down and planting a bomb:

(The picture quality is bad, because for some reason the deleted scenes on the DVD have really poor video quality.)

The bomb angle was dropped from the final cut, but it at least made sense. The suspects were told to get on the boat and destroy the cocaine. Smugglers would have hidden 91 million dollars worth of cocaine, either in smuggling compartments or by mixing it in with legitimate cargo. Blowing up the ship by planting a bomb in the engine room makes more sense than the suspects' strategy of looking in state rooms and cupboards.

Keyser Soze, the Band

There's a ska band called Keyser Soze, and they sound pretty good.

Usual Suspects Sound Clips

From MovieQuoteQuiz.

Movies for Usual Suspects Fans

So you've seen The Usual Suspects. Maybe you've seen it more than once. If you're like me, you've seen it dozens of times. Now what? Here are some other movies you may like if you're a Suspects fan.

Best Bet - The Way of the Gun

Just about everyone who likes The Usual Suspects also likes The Way of the Gun. Scripted by Suspects writer Chris McQuarrie and starring Benicio Del Toro, this crime movie is also told from the perspective of the criminals. There are plenty of strong, conflicting characters to enhance the drama. James Caan stars as Joe Sarno, a self-described worn-out old man who still has a few tricks up his sleeve.

There isn't a twist ending, but there is a connection in the movie that's never stated, but is strongly alluded to. I didn't notice it myself, but someone commenting on the blog told me to look for it. I eventually had to listen to the commentary track to get it.

Crime Movies with the Same Actors

Miller's Crossing - Fantastic Coen brothers gangster film starring Gabriel Byrne.

LA Confidential - Cops and robbers noir starring Kevin Spacey. Almost everyone has seen it, but this really is an oustanding movie with a remarkable cast, and it also has a twist when the villain's identity is revealed.

Se7en - Serial killer thriller starring Kevin Spacey as the demented mind behind a series of gruesome murders. One of the two roles - along with his part in The Usual Suspects - that earned Kevin Spacey two places on the American Film Institute's list of top movie villains.

Traffic and 21 Grams both feature Benicio Del Toro. I really like Del Toro, even though I've seen just a few of his many films. If you can recommend other good films of his, post in comments.

Movies with a Plot Twist or Twist Ending

Malice - One of my favorite movies. Stars Bill Pullman, a young Nicole Kidman, and Alec Baldwin, whose huge ego is perfect for the role of a surgeon who thinks he's God.

The Spanish Prisoner - David Mamet film starring Steve Martin in a serious role. It's been so long since I've seen it that I don't even remember the plot, but I remember liking it quite a bit.

The Sixth Sense - Another movie that almost everyone has seen, but with one of the great horror movie twist endings.

The Crying Game - Another classic twist movie.

Identity - Odd things start happening early in this film, which has one foot in the horror genre. Stars John Cusack and Ray Liotta.

I can't find it locally, but The Last of Sheila is supposed to be a good twist movie. I'm including it here as a reminder to myself to buy a copy from Amazon.

Any others you like with twist endings or actors from the Suspects? Post in comments.