The Usual Suspects
Gramercy Pictures (I) | Release Date: August 16, 1995 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
76
METASCORE
Generally favorable reviews based on 22 Critic Reviews
Positive:
18
Mixed:
3
Negative:
1
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Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
100
Chicago TribuneMichael Wilmington
A near-classic blend of mystery, personality, humor and terror, laced with one stunning shock after another. [18 August 1995, Friday, p.C]
100
VarietyStaff [not credited]
The Usual Suspects is an ironic, bang-up thriller about the wages of crime. A terrific cast of exciting actors socks over this absorbingly complicated yarn that's been spun in a seductively slick fashion by director Bryan Singer. Read full review
100
San Francisco ExaminerG. Allen Johnson
This movie has everything but Humphrey Bogart, and I'm sure he's sorry he was unavailable. Read full review
90
NewsweekJack Kroll
This one's done right. Here's an intelligent movie with no special effects. You have to pay close attention, to listen hard to its cross-fires of dialogue. Read full review
89
Austin ChronicleMarjorie Baumgarten
A movie with style to burn, and, initially, that is this crime drama's most mesmerizing aspect. Read full review
88
Baltimore SunAnn Hornaday
Dense, ironic and thoroughly engrossing caper melodrama. Read full review
88
ReelViewsJames Berardinelli
The Usual Suspects is an accomplished synthesis of noir elements and, as such, is an entertaining entry to the genre. Read full review
88
The Globe and Mail (Toronto)Rick Groen
The Usual Suspects filled me with a highly unusual urge - to be a true "reviewer," to rewind the projector and figure out this humdinger once and for all. Read full review
85
Mr. ShowbizF. X. Feeney
Byrne is a stand-up poet the way some actors are stand-up comics. His innate depth prompts The Usual Suspects to transcend its own cleverness--and this is the movie's smartest, least predictable surprise. Read full review
80
Washington PostHal Hinson
This thriller is like a game of life-and-death chess, with quick double-crosses and wild gambits. Read full review
80
Film.comAndy Spletzer
I liked this film better the second time around.
80
Los Angeles TimesKenneth Turan
The Usual Suspects is a maze that moviegoers will be happy to get lost in, a criminal roller coaster with twists so unsettling no choice exists but to hold on and go along for the ride. Read full review
80
SalonMichael Sragow
For my money, The Usual Suspects was the pulp fiction of the '90s. Read full review
80
The New York TimesJanet Maslin
Goes straight to cult status without quite touching one important base: the audience's emotions. This movie finally isn't anything move than an intricate feat of gamesmanship, but it's still quite something to see. Read full review
75
Entertainment WeeklyLisa Schwarzbaum
Dense with plot intricacies, thick with atmosphere, and packed with showy roles for a hip ensemble. Read full review
70
Film.comSean Means
Something quite different: A movie that's smarter than you are.
70
Film.comTom Keogh
Snappy heist film that keeps changing the rules of a mystery so that one is never sure whose hands are at the controls.
63
USA TodayMike Clark
Look out for everything, and listen, too, because Suspects is one of the most densely plotted mysteries in memory. Read full review
60
TV Guide MagazineFrank Lovece
Screenwriter Christopher McQuarrie's tough-guy dialogue and Bryan Singer's crisp direction give the ensemble cast every opportunity to shine, and they do. Read full review
50
San Francisco ChronicleMick LaSalle
Self-consciously bleak. Read full review
50
Washington PostDesson Thomson
Nothing more than an over-designed lobster pot. After following the beckoning twists and turns, you're left trapped and more than a little disappointed for getting in so deep. Read full review
38
Chicago Sun-TimesRoger Ebert
To the degree that you will want to see this movie, it will be because of the surprise, and so I will say no more, except to say that the "solution," when it comes, solves little - unless there is really little to solve, which is also a possibility. Read full review
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