The Usual Suspects

Trivia: The personal bios of the characters are handed out in the order that they die in.

Trivia: The way none of the characters can keep a straight face when reading out the card in the line up was not scripted, but resulted because the cast had had a rather good lunch prior to filming, which included some wine, and were unable to get through what was scripted as a serious scene with straight faces, because of the nature of the scene - supposedly very serious, but they were being asked to utter this rather absurd (and obscene) phrase. Benicio Del Toro also frequently broke wind during the scene, hardly helping the serious tone.

Trivia: In the lineup scene, when the officer asks Benicio del Toro to repeat the phrase "in English, please," the voice is actually the director. That line was not scripted. The director actually wanted to retake Benicio's line because he didn't think it was understandable. He ended up keeping it because he thought it was funny.

Trivia: An interesting point here. Some may have wondered what is the significance of the name "Keyser Soze". As many may have guessed, Keyser means "king". Soze is a word whose English equivalent is the word "verbal". Therefore, the identity of this mystery bad guy is spelled out in plain sight in his name.

Trivia: In the second meeting with Redfoot after Saul is killed, McManus confronts Redfoot, who flicks his cigarette onto McManus' face. In previous takes the actor who played Redfoot practiced repeatedly hitting Baldwin in the chest with the cigarette. However when the scene was filmed the actor aimed the cigarette too high and hit Baldwin in the face, Baldwin's reaction was real.

Trivia: Kevin Spacey glued his fingers together in the film to give a realistic paralysed effect.

Trivia: Not really a mistake per se but still. On the cover for the Usual Suspects i.e the box you see the five key characters all lined up as they were in the film. On the box Keaton is set in the centre, but in the film he is not in the centre, he is fourth from the left, next to Kint. Also Hockneys clothes have changed colour. Kints shirt and sleeveless jacket have reversed colour too. You could argue that its just a picture for the box and not meant to be taken directly from the film but if so, then why bother getting everything else right?

Trivia: Bryan Singer, the director, played Keyser Soze's feet in the opening sequence.

Trivia: Reportedly, Kevin Pollack and Stephen Baldwin have a strong dislike of each other that started during production of this film. (Though Baldwin maintains he wasn't aware of their feud until several years after the film's release, after he discovered Pollack had made remarks about him when discussing the film). Pollack reportedly was bothered by Baldwin's attitude on-set, as Baldwin (a method actor) remained in character between takes and acted in a bullying, sometimes diva-ish manner towards him and others, eventually leading to a distrust and minor animosity between the two.

Trivia: To keep the famous twist ending a secret, director Bryan Singer told all five of the principal actors at one point or another that they were Keyser Soze. Gabriel Byrne believed the ruse so much so, that when he saw a screening of the film, he yelled at Singer in the parking lot afterwards.

Brad

Trivia: Bryan Singer's production company' "Bad Hat Harry Productions" gets its name from a line in Jaws.

Trivia: Director Bryan Singer's mother plays the nurse who receives the drawing of Keyser Soze to fax to the police.

Continuity mistake: In the climactic boat scene when Kevin Pollack runs back from the boat to the van full of money he shoots the man standing by the back of the van. Pollack is then shot in the back as he looks at the money in the back of the van. When Kevin Spacey returns to the van later in the boat scene, we see Pollack's dead body lying on the ground behind the van, however the dead body of the man who Pollack killed has disappeared. (01:17:50 - 01:25:35)

More mistakes in The Usual Suspects

Verbal Kint: Keaton always said, "I don't believe in God, but I'm afraid of him." Well, I believe in God, and the only thing that scares me... Is Keyser Soze.

More quotes from The Usual Suspects

Question: Why do the gang decide to kill Kobayashi (when they are dressed as repair men and shoot the other two men in the elevator)?

Answer: Keaton doesn't believe in Keyser Soze, and is so convinced that Kobayashi is the one pulling the strings and manipulating them. They figure that if they take HIM out, they are home free.

Answer: The gang decides to kill "Kobayashi" in order to get out of being forced into this dangerous gig, and also because the guy knows way too much about them (as shown by the personal dossiers they were given at the pool hall).

Answer: Because Verbal Kint is a sociopathic habitual liar and it fits his style of story telling.

More questions & answers from The Usual Suspects

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