Byran Singer: Great moments

We go back to where it all began for Bryan Singer for his directional debut nearly two whole decades ago. The Usual Suspects (1995) was the neo-noir crime thriller that even began accumulating cult status before it hit VCR. It was on home video that fans could watch and re-watch the clues, heists and tricks which have earnt it a permanent place in the pop culture canon. The plot follows five men who concoct a robbery whilst in a New York jail line-up for suspected hi-jacking (the usual suspects); Gabriel Byrne, Stephen Baldwin, Kevin Pollak, Benicio Del Toro and Kevin Spacey. The job doesn’t just go awry- I spins out of control in perhaps the finest example of misdirection ever committed to film. It remains one of the most original and intelligent thrillers of all time where the jaw-dropping finale turns the entire movie on its head with countless tiny clues hidden within plain view throughout the masterpiece. The film was shot in just 35 days and directed by Singer at just 27 years old. The career defining movie ended its run with 23 million dollars at the box office but raves from Rolling Stone and Washington Post among others helped spread the word, not to mention the two Oscars it secured for ‘Best Original Screenplay’ and ‘Best Supporting Actor’. It set Singer up to become one of Hollywood’s power players, Singer himself said it enabled him to be taken more seriously by actors when moving into comic book movies and genre pictures, whilst directing at such a young age. The usual Suspects frequently appears on must-see lists to this day, it was named one of the top 10 mysteries by the AFI and ranks #35 in the WGA’s 101 best screenplays.