The Usual Suspects (Bryan Singer, 1995): The mid-90's was a bad time for independent films. Reservoir Dogs (1992) and Pulp Fiction (1994), had changed the way audiences, critics and filmmakers thought about indies, and every cigarette-smoking twentysomething with a Bolex wanted to be the next Tarantino.

We were getting one picture after another like Things to Do In Denver When You're Dead and Two Days in the Valley . . . this should explain my mindset as I walked into The Usual Suspects. I was expecting just another wannabe tale of pop culture-referencing gangsters. But God bless it, the movie blew away my expectations, and knocked me on my ass. I love it when that happens.

Five terrific actors get pulled in for a lineup by the NYPD: Dean Keaton (Gabriel Byrne), a suave ex-cop turned criminal who, until recently, was presumed dead ("He was dead just long enough for the murder rap to blow over . . . then he had lunch"); McManus (Stephen Baldwin), a sharpshooter; marble-mouthed Fenster (Benicio Del Toro); hijacker Hockney (Kevin Pollack); and cripple and small-time hustler "Verbal" Kint (Kevin Spacey, in the role that got him his first Academy Award).

The devilishly clever screenplay by Christopher McQuarrie also won an Academy Award, and it was well-deserved. After the boys get sucked into their lineup, they decide to get a little revenge on the cops. That revenge scene's a lot of fun (any scene with a cameo by Paul Bartel has got to be fun), but soon the dudes realize that there's someone out there pulling the strings. Someone powerful. Someone dangerous . . .

Could it be the legendary arch-criminal Keyser Soze? Is he real, or just a story crooks use to scare their children? And if he is around, who is Keyser Soze?

By the time the picture's started, everyone but Verbal is apparently dead. It is he who weaves the tale of deception, murder, and Guatemalan coffee for Customs Official Dave Kujan (Chazz Palminteri). It seems that a man claiming to represent Mr. Soze hired the five for a dangerous job . . . a virtual suicide mission, but with great rewards promised. If they succeed, the survivors will have millions of dollars to split among them. If they don't take the job . . . well, they and those they love will be killed quite terribly by the vicious Soze.

Fast-paced, action-packed, filled with great dialogue, and with a script that will keep you guessing right up until the very end. It's a modern day classic, and a picture you should definitely catch one more time.