The Usual Podcast

****The Development****

Coming up with the idea and Meeting Spacey

• Singer was showing his and screen writer Christopher McQuarrie’s film Public Access a the 1993 Sundance Film Festival. The film would go on to win the Grand Jury Prize there. Kevin Spacey happened to be attending the after party, he said that he had been encouraging people to see the film and that he was so impressed that he wanted to be in their next film.
• Before the film was even made or script written he was asked at the Sundance festival what his next film was and he responded, “I guess it’s a bunch of criminals who meet in a police line up”
• The idea for this movie started only with the concept of a movie poster of five men in a lineup and Christopher McQuarrie reputedly got the idea for the film whilst standing in a cinema line-up.

Name of the Film and Script

• The name of the film was due to a column that Singer had read in spy magazine, the column was named after the Claude Rains line in the film Casablanca. The Line was, “Round up The Usual Suspects.”
• The script was modeled from a previous script Chirstopher McQuarrie had written.
• Christopher McQuarrie had previously worked for a detective agency, and this influenced the depiction of criminals and law enforcement officials in the script.
• Singer on the script, Chris McQuarrie rang me up after he’d written about 50 pages of the script and said: “What if the villain pulls the whole story off a bulletin board?” And I replied: “Now that’s a reason to make the damned movie!”
• There were 9 drafts written over 5 months.
• The Script was written with both Kevin Spacey due to the meeting at Sundance and Chazz Palminteri in mind.
• Christopher McQuarrie wrote nine drafts of the screenplay over a period of five months.
• Christopher McQuarrie once worked for a lawyer named Keyser Sume (pronounced Sue-may), whom he told: “You’ve got a great name. You’re going to be the villain in a script some day.” When it came time to write The Usual Suspects, McQuarrie figured that, for legal reasons, he’d better not use the exact name, and so he replaced it with part of the Turkish expression “söze boğmak,” which means “talk too much” (literally, “drown in/with words”).
• Christopher McQuarrie’s inspiration for the character of Keyser Soze was a real-life murderer by the name of John List, who murdered his family and then disappeared for 17 years.

Casting

• Kevin Spacey was kept in mind for a role within the film and when he got the script, he didn’t know which part he was going to play. He liked the characters of Keaton and Kunjan but was mostly drawn to the role of Kint which is the role that McQuarrie and Singer wanted him to play anyway.
• The role of Kujan was initially written with Chazz Palminteri in mind. When he proved unavailable, the role was offered to Christopher Walken, Clark Gregg, Robert De Niro and Al Pacino, the latter being rather interested in playing the part. Pacino decided against it as he had just played a cop in Heat (1995). When Chazz Palminteri finally became available, it was only for a week. Clark Gregg ended up playing the part of Dr. Walters.
• That’s quite a different direction for the character of Fenster, who in the film is known for his nearly incomprehensible manner of speech and not much else. Singer had an older actor in mind, someone like Stanton (whom he mentioned specifically), to give the partnership of Fenster and McManus an old guy/young guy dynamic. But on the page, the role didn’t have much personality to it, and Singer couldn’t seem to find an actor who fit. It was Spacey who suggested Del Toro.
• Jeff Bridges, Johnny Cash, Chris Cornell, Tommy Lee Jones, Charlie Sheen, James Spader and Christopher Walken and even Johnny Cash were all offered the part of Redfoot, the L.A. fence, before Peter Greene was cast.
• After reading the initial script Gabriel Bryne loved the script but the ending was something he didn’t quite understand it. He also thought that the filmmakers couldn’t pull it off due to being younger. He accepted but pulled out due to his marriage just ending, he had to be convinced by Bryan Singer to come back.
• Kevin was Pollak was skeptical about reading the script due to Singer and McQuarrie. His agent pushed for it. Singer wanted to have Pollak in the film, but he promised 2 other actors to audition, so he couldn’t offer the role to him. Pollak told his agent to tell singer he will come in a read for the role and he got it there.
• Stephen Baldwin auditioned for the role of McManus, Baldwin was tired of doing independent films where his expectations were not met; when he met with director Bryan Singer, he went into a 15-minute tirade telling him what it was like to work with him. After Baldwin was finished, Singer told him exactly what he expected and wanted, which impressed Baldwin.
• Giancarlo Esposito was cast after reading the script at a hotel after the Cannes festival. He loved it and accepted the role of FBI Agent Jack Baer.
• Dan Hedaya was cast as Sgt. Jeff Rabin.
• Suzy Amis was cast as Edie Finneran.
• Pete Postlethwaite was cast as Kobayashi.

Issues with funding

• No company was interested in financing the film due to the script being nonlinear.
• The Script was sent to 50 different companies all rejecting it.
• A German investor said he would front the bill but they found out he didn’t have the cash.
  • They offered roles to the cast before knowing this.
  • Singer said “And suddenly we find out the company doesn’t really have any financing and they need to now raise the money. So we go to the five actors and we’re like, “I know we made you offers, but we really have a financial issue. Can you sign a 10-day option on commitment to the movie.” And they were like, “What the hell, man, we thought you were offering us roles, and now we have to attach ourselves to help you raise money?”
• However when Palminteri signed on with a limited window it got a studio to fund it due to him being a bankable star.

The Music

• Music was actually written by John Ottman who was also the film’s editor. This is because on Singer’s Previous Film the composer was lost and Ottman, who had been dabbling in music, said he could score it. So Singer told him he would only score the movie if he edited it and Ottman responded. I would only edit it if I score it.

***Film Breakdown***

• Characters
  • Kevin Spacey as Roger “Verbal” Kint:
  • Singer and McQuarrie sent the screenplay for the film to Spacey without telling him which role was written for him. Spacey called Singer and told them that he was interested in the roles of Keaton and Kujan but was also intrigued by Kint who, as it turned out, was the role McQuarrie wrote with Spacey in mind.[8]
  • Gabriel Byrne as Dean Keaton:
  • Kevin Spacey met Byrne at a party and asked him to do the film. He read the screenplay and turned it down, thinking that the filmmakers could not pull it off. Byrne met screenwriter Christopher McQuarrie and Singer and was impressed by the latter’s vision for the film. However, Byrne was also dealing with some personal problems at the time and backed out for 24 hours until the filmmakers agreed to shoot the film in Los Angeles, where Byrne lived, and make it in five weeks.[8]
  • Chazz Palminteri as Agent Dave Kujan:
  • Singer had always wanted Palminteri for the film, but he was always unavailable. The role was offered to Christopher Walken and Robert De Niro, both of whom turned it down. The filmmakers even had Al Pacino come in and read for the part, but he decided not to do it because he had just played a cop in Heat. Pacino would later say it was the one film he has regretted turning down the most. Palminteri became available, but only for a week. When he signed on, this persuaded the film’s financial backers to support the film fully because he was a sufficiently high-profile star, thanks to the recent releases of A Bronx Tale and Bullets Over Broadway.[8]
  • Stephen Baldwin as Michael McManus:
  • Baldwin was tired of doing independent films where his expectations were not met; when he met with director Bryan Singer, he went into a 15-minute tirade telling him what it was like to work with him. After Baldwin was finished, Singer told him exactly what he expected and wanted, which impressed Baldwin.
  • Benicio del Toro as Fred Fenster:
  • Spacey suggested del Toro for the role. The character was originally written with a Harry Dean Stanton-type actor in mind. Del Toro met with Singer and the film’s casting director and told them that he did not want to audition because he did not feel comfortable doing them.[8] After reading the script, del Toro realized that his character’s only purpose was to be killed to demonstrate Söze’s power, and did not have any meaningful impact on the story. As a result, del Toro developed Fenster’s unique, garbled speech pattern to make him more memorable as a character. He also based the
  • Kevin Pollak as Todd Hockney:
  • He met with Singer about doing the film, but when he heard that two other actors were auditioning for the role, he came back, auditioned, and got the part.[8]
  • Pete Postlethwaite as Kobayashi
  • Suzy Amis as Edie Finneran
  • Giancarlo Esposito as FBI Agent Jack Baer
  • Dan Hedaya as Sergeant Jeff Rabin
  • Cástulo Guerra as Arturo Marquez
  • Peter Greene as Redfoot (uncredited)
  • Scott B. Morgan as Keyser Söze (in flashbacks) (uncredited)

Scenes

• Opening Scene of explosion and introduction of Verbal
  • In the original screenplay, the opening sequence was intended to be much longer. Dean Keaton (Gabriel Byrne) was supposed to plant a bomb on the ill-fated boat in California. The subplot was shot but unused in the final edit, although bits of it remain in the dialogue.
  • When Keaton asks Verbal “what time is it?” as the movie begins, it is in reference to the ticking timebomb that he planted on the ship. Due to the sudden changes in the screenplay, director Bryan Singer filmed all shots of the exploding boat in his own backyard.
  • Verbal is seen interrogated after the explosion.
  • He then starts to tell of the truck being stolen.
• Flashback to Line up
  • Actors keep laughing to Del Toro continuous farting.
  • Del toro improvised his dialect.
    • As Del Toro explained it on Inside the Actors Studio, his character’s only real purpose in the story was to die. So to liven things up, Del Toro tried delivering Fenster’s lines the way the audience hears them in the film—very quickly, and with a thick, indiscernible accent.
    • It was so outrageous that even Giancarlo Esposito was shocked when he first heard it and thought he was mocking the role of a person with a disability.
    • Christopher McQuarrie plays one of the cops integrating.
  • Back to the present: FBI agent Jack Baer searches the dock Kujan starts to interview.
    • Verbal is claimed to be protected by someone high up.
    • Kujan says there is more to his story
    • Baer discovers the criminal Arkosh Kovvash who mentions Keyser Soze.
  • The interrogation continues and flashback to first job done.
    • The robbery of New Yorks finest taxi service.
      • Louis Lombardi was a cop in the film also known for the sopranos a Skip and Edgar Stiles from 24
      • Real jewelry on loan was used for this scene.

• Meeting of Redfoot
  • The animosity between Pollack and Baldwin was real.
    • Pollack felt Baldwin was bullying people on set to stay in character and he also stood in character. It is still unclear the real story between them.
    • Keaton is regretful and Kujan calls BS.
    • They go see Edie before flying out to see Redfoot.
    • Redfoot offers another job.
  • Job gone wrong.
    • They were supposed to steal money but end up getting coke after killing the dealer (verbal shot him)
  • They are then introduced to Kobayashi and the mentioning of Soze.
    • Redfoot says he doesn’t want the dope and they have to talk to the lawyer Kobayashi.
      • The cigarette fling was real.
    • Each member has crossed Soze one way or another without knowing and must repay or be killed or family member killed.
  • Who is Keyser Soze?
    • Fenster leaves and dies.
  • Payback at Kobayshi.
    • Edie is working with him.
  • The boat
    • There is no COKE.
  • Death of Keaton?
  • Keyser Soze?

***Critical reception/Fan Theories***

Reception

• Film was nominated for 2 oscars
  • Best Actor in supporting role Kevin Spacey (won)
  • Best writing screenplay Christopher McQuarrie (won)

• Grossed over 23 million dollars on a 6-million-dollar budget but made much more on rentals.
• Film made a ton of best films of all-time list.
  • Singer said he was at a screening and left to use the rest room to come back to credits rolling and people saying KEYSER SOZE!
• Most Critics liked it.
  • Legendary Film Critic Roger Ebert hated it and gave it 1 and half stars.
    • Even having the film on the worst of the year list for him.

Fan Theories

• Kint is not really Soze!
  • This has been argued among fans and others alike.
    • Even to the point that Singer had all the actors believe they were Soze.
      • Bryne even thought he was Soze and had an argument with Singer that he was.
    • Kint can’t be Soze because he was caught also if he is secretive how did he know everyone?
    • Kovash didn’t know what he looked like, he saw Kint and thought it was Soze.
      • The flashbacks show a long-haired man.
    • All the information given to Kujan were lies.
    • Kint had to work for Soze?