Holding the spot of number 25 on IMDb's Top 250 voted by regular voters, this movie couldn't be more of an impostor than it actually is. Stealing from every cheap film noir that preceded it and using one of the most lazy plot twist of the mystery plot: the whodunnit. Lazy because almost anybody can make a whodunit. It is a film form that besides involving a main mystery doesn't really involve a character examination and more often than not uses stereotypes and worn out techniques of dissuasion and cover up. It is, for a younger audience a very entertaining film filled with many suspenseful elements and a detective oriented plot. When observed with a cinematic eye and appreciation this Bryan Singer picture looks pale and very 1990's television. Singer and screenwriter Christopher McQuarrie should have get some Agatha Christie novels beforehand and learn a little more about the whodunnit and its mastery.
I know I'm being rude about this and there are probably hundreds of its fans who'll disagree with my opinions but I would recommend another Noir inspired film like Rian Johnson's Brick ten times before I would recommend The Usual Suspects. One can compare this kind of film like a sweet bubble gum. It tastes good at first sight but after a little while it is tasteless more than anything else and you throw it away without really ever thinking about it.
