No, this movie isn't one of the Greatest of All Time, but it's a classic (in a way) that I've never seen and it was on TV - Sundance, no less, which means F-words and all - and when you're on modified bed rest, you'll watch anything. Like seriously, anything. Do you want to know who my favorite Family Feud host of the past 10 years is? Because thanks to the Game Show Network, I actually have one.
Anyway, yes, this was the first time I had ever seen this movie.
For those in a similar predicament, here's the set-up (pay attention because there will be a test). An explosion on a boat that looks to be a drug deal gone bad leaves just two survivors - a Hungarian gangster with burns on most of his body blubbering about a mysterious criminal mastermind named Keyser Soze and a small-time thief with cerebral palsy (Kevin Spacey). While the Hungarian gives whatever hospital bed testimony he can, including working with a sketch artist, the thief, Verbal Kint, gives testimony to a couple of cops. Most of the movie is a flashback to his tale.
It begins six weeks earlier, when Kint and four other lifetime criminals are put in a lineup for a weapons charge. While in holding, they devise a plan themselves, targeting a ring of crooked cops who transport smugglers throughout New York City. After that goes swimmingly, they attempt to launder the loot with a "fence," who tells them about another job stealing jewels and/or money from a jeweler. Instead they wind up stealing drugs, and they learn that the job came from a lawyer named Kobayashi. The whole thing was a setup by Kobayashi and his client, Keyser Soze, and he (Kobayashi) blackmails each criminal into attacking the aforementioned ship to break up a drug deal between Hungarians and Argentinian gangsters.
Some of the guys take some convincing; one winds up dead before the attack. The real question is what happened on the ship and who is Keyser Soze? Kint gives a brief back history: Soze was a Turkish criminal mastermind. When his Hungarian rivals tried to pressure him by breaking into his house, raping his wife and threatening his family's lives, he responded by killing his family himself, along with all but one of the Hungarians. After that, he became more of a myth than a reality, a legend that some criminals and cops questioned even existed.
I love a good twist, not to mention a good caper, so this movie was right up my alley. Plus, the cast was fantastic - Spacey's crew of criminals include Gabriel Byrne, Benicio del Toro, Kevin Pollack and Stephen Baldwin, while the investigating cops include Chazz Palminteri, Dan Hedaya and Giancarlo Esposito. But I think what gave me the most enjoyment came after the movie ended, when I checked out its trivia section on IMDB. (Note: If you've never seen this movie before and don't want the end ruined for you, you might not want to click on that link.) Apparently, the director worked very hard to make every single actor think that HE was Keyser Soze, to the point that at least one actor got into a screaming match with the director at the premier because he was so sure it was him. That's just impressive.
Other notables: Kevin Spacey won an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor (strange, since I thought of him as the main actor, but what do I know?). Either way, not a bad way to spend an afternoon on bed rest.
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