The Usual Suspects

The Usual Suspects is a 1995 American neo-noir film written by Christopher McQuarrie and directed by Bryan Singer. It stars Gabriel Byrne, Kevin Spacey, Chazz Palminteri, Stephen Baldwin, Benicio del Toro, Kevin Pollak and Pete Postlethwaite. The film tells the story of Roger "Verbal" Kint (Spacey), a small-time con man who is the subject of a police interrogation. He tells his interrogator, U.S. Customs Agent David Kujan (Palminteri), a convoluted story about events leading to a massacre and massive fire that have just taken place on a ship docked at the Port of Los Angeles in San Pedro Bay. Using flashback and narration, Verbal's story becomes increasingly complex as he tries to explain why he and his partners-in-crime were on the boat. The film, shot on a $6 million budget, was initially released in few theaters, but received favorable reviews and was eventually given a wider release. McQuarrie won an Oscar for the screenplay and Spacey won an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for his performance. The title of the film is a reference to a line in Casablanca, in which Capt. Louis Renault (Claude Rains) protects Rick Blaine (Humphrey Bogart) by ordering his men to "round up the usual suspects" rather than arrest Rick, who had just shot the German officer, Major Strasser.