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Oct. 1, 2026

A Script By: Christopher McQuarrie - The Usual Suspects

A Script By: Christopher McQuarrie - The Usual Suspects

Before it was a film, it was a script. Brad Koszo dives deep into some of Hollywood's most celebrated screenplays to analyze their structure, themes, and page-to-film journey. Get ready for a look at the writers behind the words as he explore their...

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Season 7
Before it was a film, it was a script.

Brad Koszo dives deep into some of Hollywood's most celebrated screenplays to analyze their structure, themes, and page-to-film journey. Get ready for a look at the writers behind the words as he explore their process, what influenced them, and how they inspired some of the iconic cinema we enjoy today.

This month, Brad and Angela unravel the words of Christopher McQuarrie's brilliant Academy Award-winning script that introduced us to Keyser Soze and The Usual Suspects!

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WEBVTT

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Welcome to A Film By Presents, A Script By. I

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am your host, Brad Kozo, and on this show, we

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break down some of Hollywood's most celebrated screenplays and examine

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their conception, execution, and legacy. In this episode, we will

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unravel the mystery of Kaiser Soze as we dive into

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Christopher McQuarrie's screenplay for The Usual Suspects. Blending elements of

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the crime thriller, film noir, heist film, and detective mystery,

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The Usual Suspect turns storytelling itself into an act of deception.

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The screenplay gives us the facts, but filters them through

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a narrator who rearranges their meaning and exploits our desire

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for a clear answer. By the time the truth is revealed,

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the script hasn't simply fooled us, it makes us question

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how much of the story we ever truly understood. This

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is a script by Let's Turn the Page.

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The greatest trick the devil ever pulled was convincing.

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The world he didn't exist. That is just one of

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the many brilliant lines in today's screenplay, The Usual Suspects,

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written by Christopher McQuarrie. The film became a major breakthrough

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for many of the people involved. Bryan Singer's direction, McQuarrie's

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Oscar-winning screenplay, to the memorable performances of its ensemble cast.

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But first, as always, I have to welcome back today's guest.

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She was fantastic when she joined us for our episode

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on Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, and now she's back.

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Please welcome back Angela Norris. Angela? How are you?

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I'm doing fantastic. It's great to be back, so thank

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you so much for having me.

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Thank you for doing this one.

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This is one of my absolute favorites, so I'm excited.

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It's a movie that's just kind of like, if you

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need something, a satisfaction of, I need something that I

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know is going to be satisfying. Yes.

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Here you go.

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Even though I won't have all of my questions answered,

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it's just still phenomenal.

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When did you first see it, and what did you

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think when you first saw it?

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I actually didn't see it till a few years after

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it had come out when I was working at a

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video store and it became highly recommended. And I absolutely

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loved it. I love good psychological thrillers, you know, throw

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that detective spin in there. It was obviously a fantastic cast. So, yeah,

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I remember taking it home and just absolutely loving it.

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And of course, you know, Kevin Spacey became like one

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of my favorites to watch. I mean, I've seen him

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in other things, but this definitely like, I'm like, I

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really enjoyed his work. And I, you know, after that

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made sure pretty much watched everything, you know, he was in.

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But yeah, and it's just still one of those that

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I will go to every now and then.

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And even though, you know, there's still, like I mentioned,

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unanswered questions, I'm okay with that because just the mystery

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and the fantastic reveal, it's just one of the best, like, Oh,

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it's like, even though it's like part of your voice, like,

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you know, in the back of your head, you get

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this inkling of like, I'm getting these tingles, but you

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know what? I'm enjoying this too much that I don't

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want to read so much in the tingles.

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I just, I just want to be here for.

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The, you know, the right of it. And now everything

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unfolds and just, you know, one thing after another. So, um, I, I'm,

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I'm glad it was recommended to me and, and I, uh, yeah,

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I've been a fan of it. So probably about 99,

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I think I maybe saw like four or five years

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after it came out. I, I remember I actually missed

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this in the theater.

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And it's funny enough because I'm supposed to be the

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film geek in my family. But my older brother got

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the jump on me for this movie.

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Okay.

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Somehow just him. He got to see it.

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And he's like, you've got to see this movie, The

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Usual Suspects. And I was like, I heard very, very

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little about it.

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But he's like, it's perfect. It's amazing.

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And damn it, he was right. But I missed it

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in the theater still. I tried to find it, but

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it was gone. But once it came on video, I

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was able to see it. And it was like, oh, yeah,

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I'm hooked.

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Yes.

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And at least when you rented it, you can probably

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watch it a few times in a row because you

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just pick up on so many things. I think it

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probably took me a couple of watches before I even–

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realize in the beginning that Keaton actually says Kaiser's name

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was like, how did I not hear this before? I mean,

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it's just so subtle and it was so there and

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I felt so dumb.

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I'm like, how did I miss this? Like, I don't,

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I don't know.

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I was just so transfixed on, Hey, there's this guy

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that's obviously, you know, his fate is sealed.

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And I, I remember it was a big pop culture

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type of thing. Like, you know, it was almost kind

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of a joke where people were saying, You heard people saying,

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who is Kaiser Soze? It was like almost like a

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saying before you even saw the movie.

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Yeah.

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I remember seeing it like on maybe like a collage

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of like pop culture stuff for like the year. And

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that was like one of the big things on there.

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But yeah, it's brilliant and a brilliant screenplay. Yes. And

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so we'll then get into our writer's background. So Christopher

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McQuarrie and Bryan Singer were longtime friends who first collaborated

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on a film, Public Access, which shared the grand jury

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prize at the 1993 Sundance Film Festival. Their next project

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began with a title and an image. Five criminals standing

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in a police lineup. The title came from a spy

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magazine column referencing Captain Reynolds' famous instruction to round up

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the usual suspects in Casablanca. Singer then posed the question

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that launched the story. What could bring five career criminals

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together in the same lineup? McQuarrie combined that concept with

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an earlier idea about a man who murders his own

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family and disappears. That story became the foundation for the

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Kaiser Soze legend. The screenplay went through nine drafts over

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approximately five months. Partway through the writing process, McQuarrie proposed

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that the villain construct his story from objects inside the

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interrogation room, giving the screenplay its famous bulletin board revelation.

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Its non-linear structure, heavy dialogue, and lack of major stars

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made the project difficult to finance. Nearly every studio rejected it.

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Tentative European financing allowed the filmmakers to begin finally assembling

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the cast. Although that financing did collapse, the actors remained committed.

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Armed with both a highly regarded screenplay and an impressive ensemble,

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the filmmakers finally persuaded Polygram to.

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Pick up the usual suspects.

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Angela, the The screenplay, you know, with the image of

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the five criminals and a lot of how effective and gutsy,

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I guess it is to build an entire story around

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just one strong visual idea.

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It's pretty gutsy.

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But like you said, when you have five career criminals

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and these guys aren't stupid, you put them in a

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room and usually, you know, anything else, you know, that

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we tend to watch and even, you.

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Know, TV shows. they're not, it's usually one will always kind.

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Of stick out, but all of these guys got to

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stick out with that. So, and like you said, how

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do you get these kinds of guys in the same room?

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And there's gotta be someone up on high, whether it

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be from, you know, within the system or another criminal,

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you know, mastermind being a little, you know, puppeteer and manipulative,

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you know, magic and getting them together for, there's a reason.

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Yeah. We just don't know what that is, but that,

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but it is a very impactful image.

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Um, and I can honestly say like when I first

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saw the cover in, uh, when I was working at

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the video store.

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I kind of thought it could have gone both ways.

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This could be a super serious movie or is this

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just one of those goofball, not goofball, but, um, like

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a spoof type thing where it was going to be

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more of like, is this more going to be like

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a comedy heist?

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Yeah.

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I could see that scene looking at the picture at first,

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you know, a lot of the stuff in the eighties

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and early nineties kind of had that thing.

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Yeah. So, but obviously it was definitely more of the serious,

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serious nature. I mean, yeah, no, I love the cover.

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I mean, that's great.

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I mean, I think it works here, not just, and

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it has become iconic because like you said, you take

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five criminals and you put them in a lineup.

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Well, then your mind can go anywhere.

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Yeah. We can make one really lethal. We can make

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one weird. I mean, so you can do. So I

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think with something like this, it can be done. You know,

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it's not going to be done all the time, but

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I think it I think it worked really well there.

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And and we know that image. I think it's even

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like Bryan Singer's bad hat Harry image for his like

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it comes up and it's just the silhouette of all them.

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I'm like, that's perfect.

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Yeah, absolutely.

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And it's a little bit, you know, the title is

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ironic because even though, you know, usual, I.

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Feel like these guys are a little bit more of

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the top tier, you know, type criminals.

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So I guess it's a matter of perspective as to,

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you know, what you would consider usual, but not just

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these run-of-the-mill just criminals.

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Maybe the usual suspects, question mark.

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Yes.

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Yeah.

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Like there's a dot, dot, dot there.

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Well, we're going to take our first quick break, but

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when we come back, we will unravel the first 10

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pages in Act 1 of The Usual Suspects. Welcome back

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to a script by We Are Talking, Kristen McQuarrie's The

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Usual Suspect and the first 10 pages in Act 1.

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So let's get started with the first 10 pages. The

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screenplay opens aboard a ship where a badly injured Dean

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Keaton attempts to ignite a trail of gasoline. An unidentified

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man extinguishes the fire, shoots Keaton, and destroys the ship.

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Now McQuarrie conceals the killer's face but emphasizes a gold

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watch and an unusual antique lighter operated with a fluid,

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somewhat showy motion. These initially appear to be character details,

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but they will eventually become important evidence. Keaton recognizes the

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man and calls him Kaiser. With more than 20 bodies

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scattered across the pier, we know that a massacre has

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occurred and that Kaiser Soze is apparently responsible. What we

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don't know is who he is, what happened aboard the ship,

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or how Keaton became involved. The story then moves back

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six weeks to New York, guided by the voice of

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Roger Verbal Kint. Following the hijacking of truck-carrying gun parts,

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several career criminals are arrested. McManus responds with sarcasm, Hockney

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with humor, and Fenster attempts to run. Keaton receives the

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most attention. He's trying to leave crime behind and enter

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the restaurant business with the support of his attorney and girlfriend,

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Edie Finneran. That effort is disrupted when Special Agent Dave

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Koyan arrests him in front of his potential investors. By

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page 10, McQuarrie has established the players and the central mysteries.

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Why were these particular men brought together?

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Is Keaton truly reformed? Who is Kaiser Soze?

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And can we trust the man telling us the story? Angela,

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the screenplay shows us Keaton's death before introducing this life

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he's trying to build.

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How does knowing his fate shape the way you view him?

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I found it maybe a bit empathetic because you can

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just tell by the look on his face that whatever

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has gone bad, was by someone he knew and perhaps,

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you know, trusted.

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Um, so there's like been a double cross that you think,

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but winds up being way more than that.

225
00:11:58.320 --> 00:12:02.480
Um, and then going through the movie, seeing that, you know,

226
00:12:02.539 --> 00:12:06.120
he really did try, uh, but you know, like they say,

227
00:12:06.139 --> 00:12:09.250
you know, leopard can't change its spots.

228
00:12:09.620 --> 00:12:15.929
Right. And he's kind of, you know, I think all

229
00:12:15.970 --> 00:12:18.539
the guys kind of realize that, there is no way

230
00:12:18.639 --> 00:12:19.370
out of this life.

231
00:12:19.379 --> 00:12:20.210
No, no, no.

232
00:12:20.250 --> 00:12:24.409
But death, but death. Cause either, even if.

233
00:12:24.409 --> 00:12:26.929
There was no Kaiser, so say you'd still have the police,

234
00:12:26.970 --> 00:12:31.029
they're constantly harassing you. And, and automatically that is going

235
00:12:31.049 --> 00:12:35.049
to block you from anybody wanting to do business with

236
00:12:35.610 --> 00:12:38.350
a queer criminal, you know, like that.

237
00:12:38.649 --> 00:12:43.220
And, or as Kuhan called it, like the hooker with

238
00:12:43.259 --> 00:12:45.360
a heart of gold story, you know, type thing.

239
00:12:45.990 --> 00:12:51.070
But definitely, you know, empathetic and interested of like what

240
00:12:51.309 --> 00:12:56.669
kind of deal went down to basically, you know, he

241
00:12:56.710 --> 00:12:59.710
was ready to just let himself go out, but then

242
00:12:59.750 --> 00:13:00.370
was stopped.

243
00:13:01.129 --> 00:13:01.509
Yeah.

244
00:13:01.529 --> 00:13:05.490
And he, you know, Kaiser could have just let it happen.

245
00:13:05.529 --> 00:13:09.610
But no, it's like he wanted him to know who

246
00:13:09.649 --> 00:13:12.129
he was and then be the one to to actually.

247
00:13:12.590 --> 00:13:13.009
I actually do.

248
00:13:13.090 --> 00:13:15.539
Now, at this point, who do you think the screenplay

249
00:13:15.659 --> 00:13:18.299
wants us to trust? And is there anyone you're already

250
00:13:18.580 --> 00:13:21.460
suspicious of for the first time?

251
00:13:23.379 --> 00:13:27.220
Well, I think with Verbal Kent, we get that sympathy

252
00:13:27.299 --> 00:13:32.190
because he is physically disabled. And you feel like he's...

253
00:13:33.690 --> 00:13:34.909
You know, Bitslow doesn't.

254
00:13:34.750 --> 00:13:37.769
Really have anything. You know, anybody else kind of going,

255
00:13:37.789 --> 00:13:39.789
and this is the life. This is the only thing

256
00:13:39.850 --> 00:13:44.179
he has. And so... it's like you want to believe him,

257
00:13:44.200 --> 00:13:47.320
but then at the same point, that makes him a

258
00:13:47.340 --> 00:13:49.240
little bit more suspicious of that.

259
00:13:49.320 --> 00:13:52.919
So, I mean, for me, you, you want to trust Keaton,

260
00:13:53.200 --> 00:13:55.100
the things you hear about him.

261
00:13:55.159 --> 00:13:55.360
Yeah.

262
00:13:55.700 --> 00:13:55.960
Yes.

263
00:13:56.200 --> 00:14:00.539
And you look at, okay, Gabriel Byrne, it's really hard

264
00:14:00.639 --> 00:14:04.279
to picture him doing the things that he is accused

265
00:14:04.340 --> 00:14:10.370
of doing from his past. So seeing him, I did, it's,

266
00:14:10.549 --> 00:14:12.899
or just, I guess just the way it's written is,

267
00:14:13.340 --> 00:14:16.100
is very easy for me to trust him right away,

268
00:14:16.399 --> 00:14:19.399
but it's also easy for me to be, he could

269
00:14:19.460 --> 00:14:20.600
be running things.

270
00:14:20.919 --> 00:14:21.519
You know, so.

271
00:14:21.559 --> 00:14:25.590
Right. And, and having, you know, the Edie Fetter, sorry,

272
00:14:25.610 --> 00:14:27.549
if I'm saying the last name of the character wrong.

273
00:14:27.570 --> 00:14:29.029
Edie Finneran. Finneran.

274
00:14:29.610 --> 00:14:32.669
Um, you know, having her, I mean, obviously she's put together,

275
00:14:32.809 --> 00:14:38.049
she's not a dummy and, um, and despite knowing his

276
00:14:38.149 --> 00:14:41.309
previous life, obviously she has gotten to know other sides

277
00:14:41.350 --> 00:14:43.840
of him that, you know, we don't see, but that

278
00:14:43.889 --> 00:14:46.299
she has worked really hard to try to support him

279
00:14:46.360 --> 00:14:49.559
and try to help him in, you know, you know.

280
00:14:49.580 --> 00:14:53.799
That change of life. And I feel, I feel like

281
00:14:53.860 --> 00:14:57.340
he was sincere in that. I don't think he was,

282
00:14:57.679 --> 00:14:59.659
you know, really, you know, using her or anything like that.

283
00:14:59.700 --> 00:15:03.220
You do feel like there was that genuine want there,

284
00:15:03.320 --> 00:15:07.049
but then like you said, did, Nature will always take

285
00:15:07.110 --> 00:15:10.690
kind of, you know, over and, you know, what you

286
00:15:12.149 --> 00:15:13.690
truly are is still kind of, you know, going to

287
00:15:13.730 --> 00:15:14.149
be there.

288
00:15:14.600 --> 00:15:15.059
So, yeah.

289
00:15:15.120 --> 00:15:20.440
So having that supportive person be there does make you, oh, hey,

290
00:15:21.379 --> 00:15:23.720
there's other sides to him and maybe we can trust him. And,

291
00:15:24.059 --> 00:15:26.000
you know, he he really is trying to do this,

292
00:15:26.039 --> 00:15:28.230
but then gets to the point where he kind of

293
00:15:28.269 --> 00:15:29.210
has no choice.

294
00:15:29.230 --> 00:15:34.350
I think he knows if he loses her. Yeah, he

295
00:15:34.450 --> 00:15:35.389
he's got to go back.

296
00:15:36.019 --> 00:15:38.940
So that's his last little thing.

297
00:15:39.279 --> 00:15:41.779
Like his Hail Mary to try to have a normal life.

298
00:15:41.840 --> 00:15:44.639
But even though even he doesn't believe he's ever going

299
00:15:44.659 --> 00:15:47.470
to have a normal life, you know, so.

300
00:15:48.350 --> 00:15:48.970
All right.

301
00:15:49.549 --> 00:15:53.610
Let's open up Act One, rounding up the usual suspects. Now,

302
00:15:53.649 --> 00:15:56.970
the hijacked gun truck triggers the investigation. But the true

303
00:15:57.029 --> 00:15:59.730
inciting incident is the police lineup that brings the five

304
00:15:59.769 --> 00:16:03.379
criminals together. Vermal summarizes the police apparent mistake.

305
00:16:03.799 --> 00:16:04.500
You don't put.

306
00:16:04.399 --> 00:16:07.620
Guys like that in a room together. Inside the holding cell,

307
00:16:07.700 --> 00:16:10.879
McManus proposes robbing the New York's finest taxi service, a

308
00:16:10.919 --> 00:16:14.100
group of corrupt officers who transport smugglers and drug dealers

309
00:16:14.120 --> 00:16:18.090
throughout the city. Keaton refuses because another crime could destroy

310
00:16:18.129 --> 00:16:21.350
the legitimate life he is building with Edie. The screenplay

311
00:16:21.370 --> 00:16:25.470
then returns to the present. Verbal has received immunity following

312
00:16:25.509 --> 00:16:29.250
the Harbor Massacre, while Special Agent Kuyon arrives determined to

313
00:16:29.289 --> 00:16:34.080
discover what happened to Keaton. Elsewhere, a badly burned Hungarian

314
00:16:34.120 --> 00:16:38.149
survivor repeatedly names Kaiser Soze, and claims that he has

315
00:16:38.309 --> 00:16:42.429
seen the devil. Kuyon begins the interrogation already convinced that

316
00:16:42.529 --> 00:16:46.620
Keaton never truly changed. This gives Verbal a weakness to exploit.

317
00:16:47.360 --> 00:16:50.080
Kuyon isn't searching for the truth, as much as he

318
00:16:50.120 --> 00:16:52.940
is searching for evidence that confirms what he already believes.

319
00:16:53.639 --> 00:16:54.600
Back in New York, the.

320
00:16:54.529 --> 00:16:57.330
Lineup has damaged Keaton's restaurant proposal and convinced him that

321
00:16:57.350 --> 00:16:59.909
the police may never allow him to escape his past.

322
00:17:00.649 --> 00:17:03.269
Verbal then visits Keaton and pressures him to join the robbery.

323
00:17:03.750 --> 00:17:07.519
He claims that the others need Keaton, but Verbal has

324
00:17:07.539 --> 00:17:10.380
already created a plan that will prevent anyone from being killed.

325
00:17:10.900 --> 00:17:13.420
He appears to need Keaton's protection, but he is actually

326
00:17:13.579 --> 00:17:16.359
using Keaton's anger toward the police to pull him into

327
00:17:16.400 --> 00:17:19.960
the crime. Keaton finally agrees, and the five men successfully

328
00:17:20.069 --> 00:17:23.150
rob the taxi service without killing anyone. Which is a

329
00:17:23.190 --> 00:17:24.049
great scene, by the way.

330
00:17:24.490 --> 00:17:24.809
Oh, yeah.

331
00:17:25.309 --> 00:17:29.190
And they expose the corrupt police operation as well. Afterwards,

332
00:17:29.269 --> 00:17:31.650
the others celebrate around a table covered with stolen embers

333
00:17:31.730 --> 00:17:35.960
and praise Verbal as... My boy with the plan. Another

334
00:17:36.160 --> 00:17:39.980
clue thrown out there. Keaton will sit apart, recognizing he

335
00:17:40.000 --> 00:17:42.390
has returned to the life that he wanted to escape.

336
00:17:42.970 --> 00:17:44.910
Now to sell these emeralds, the group agrees to go

337
00:17:44.930 --> 00:17:47.809
to travel to California and meet a criminal contact named Redfoot.

338
00:17:48.309 --> 00:17:51.589
Before leaving, Keaton attempts to see Edie one final time.

339
00:17:52.049 --> 00:17:53.690
But Verbal reminds him that they're going to be late

340
00:17:53.710 --> 00:17:58.740
and miss their flight. That choice then completes Act 1.

341
00:17:58.740 --> 00:18:01.400
Keaton begins the story preparing for a legitimate future with Edie.

342
00:18:01.970 --> 00:18:05.319
He ends returning to crime and following Verbal to Los Angeles.

343
00:18:05.920 --> 00:18:08.180
Keaton may appear to be the group's leader, but the

344
00:18:08.240 --> 00:18:11.400
least threatening man among them is already directing the story.

345
00:18:13.220 --> 00:18:15.599
Do you believe the police.

346
00:18:15.460 --> 00:18:18.769
Drive Keaton back into crime or does Verbal use their

347
00:18:18.809 --> 00:18:20.970
harassment as the pressure point he needs?

348
00:18:21.630 --> 00:18:28.289
I think Verbal definitely manipulates that pressure point and just

349
00:18:28.349 --> 00:18:32.640
kind of driving home that like you said the police

350
00:18:32.680 --> 00:18:35.200
are never gonna leave him alone I mean even Keaton

351
00:18:35.220 --> 00:18:37.190
when he's on the steps with with Edie outside the

352
00:18:37.230 --> 00:18:39.329
restaurant he's like it's just never gonna stop he's never

353
00:18:39.349 --> 00:18:43.410
gonna stop you know and and so I think Verbal

354
00:18:43.470 --> 00:18:46.049
heavily uses that um.

355
00:18:46.869 --> 00:18:48.549
You know exploits that to get him in.

356
00:18:48.789 --> 00:18:52.779
And also trying to gain his sympathy like hey the

357
00:18:52.859 --> 00:18:55.960
other guys won't let me in without you right you

358
00:18:56.000 --> 00:18:58.240
know he kept you know saying you know so um

359
00:18:59.440 --> 00:19:01.960
like you know like you said was that really true

360
00:19:02.119 --> 00:19:06.029
but you know Keaton was definitely you know was a

361
00:19:06.109 --> 00:19:08.529
very much needed piece in order for Verbal to carry

362
00:19:08.589 --> 00:19:10.809
out his his plan.

363
00:19:10.630 --> 00:19:14.630
And those little lines like after he punches him you

364
00:19:14.650 --> 00:19:17.009
know I'm gonna shit blood tonight you.

365
00:19:16.930 --> 00:19:18.509
Know and it's like and then they kind of share

366
00:19:18.549 --> 00:19:19.849
a giggle oh.

367
00:19:19.509 --> 00:19:22.900
Man I'm sorry okay I'll do.

368
00:19:22.730 --> 00:19:26.200
The thing with you definitely a little bit of a guilt.

369
00:19:26.039 --> 00:19:29.940
Yeah I mean he plays his strings very very well

370
00:19:30.380 --> 00:19:33.539
yes You know, but the thing, though, is that I

371
00:19:33.619 --> 00:19:37.440
think originally the plan was supposed to be McManus's.

372
00:19:38.279 --> 00:19:40.079
Then it just turns into Verbal's plan.

373
00:19:40.140 --> 00:19:40.519
Right.

374
00:19:40.920 --> 00:19:43.529
Yes, because he was the one who brought the idea, like,

375
00:19:43.549 --> 00:19:45.220
while they were all together, because Keaton was like, I

376
00:19:45.269 --> 00:19:46.450
don't want anything to do with it.

377
00:19:46.849 --> 00:19:48.890
Yeah. And I don't.

378
00:19:49.980 --> 00:19:53.180
Believe in the jail cell that they even talk about

379
00:19:53.200 --> 00:19:55.759
the taxi service job. They're just talking about a job.

380
00:19:55.799 --> 00:19:57.980
No, they were just a job, yeah.

381
00:19:58.960 --> 00:20:00.920
Well, we're going to take our second and final break,

382
00:20:00.940 --> 00:20:03.000
and when we come back, we're going to dive into

383
00:20:03.099 --> 00:20:05.789
Act 2 and 3 of The Usual Suspect. Welcome back

384
00:20:05.809 --> 00:20:08.130
to A Script By. We have covered the first 10

385
00:20:08.130 --> 00:20:11.009
pages in Act 1 of The Usual Suspects. Now we

386
00:20:11.049 --> 00:20:16.430
jump to Act 2. Enter Kaiser Soze. Act 2 begins

387
00:20:16.470 --> 00:20:18.369
when the group arrives in Los Angeles to sell the

388
00:20:18.390 --> 00:20:22.309
stolen emeralds through Redfoot. Redfoot offers them another robbery, but

389
00:20:22.349 --> 00:20:25.730
the job goes wrong. McManus kills two bodyguards, and when

390
00:20:25.819 --> 00:20:31.420
Keaton hesitates, Verbal shoots their target, Saul. That moment changes

391
00:20:31.480 --> 00:20:34.690
our understanding of Verbal. The supposedly helpless member of the

392
00:20:34.730 --> 00:20:37.799
group is capable of killing without warning.

393
00:20:38.190 --> 00:20:39.410
And a hell of a shot, too.

394
00:20:39.799 --> 00:20:40.099
Yes.

395
00:20:40.779 --> 00:20:46.240
Saul's briefcase also contains drugs instead of expected valuables, revealing

396
00:20:46.299 --> 00:20:50.259
that the men had been manipulated and committing murder. Redfoot

397
00:20:50.279 --> 00:20:52.880
claims that the job came from a lawyer whom Verbal

398
00:20:52.940 --> 00:20:57.259
identifies as Kobayashi. Kobayashi reveals that all five men have

399
00:20:57.339 --> 00:21:01.140
unknowingly stolen from Kaiser Sozei. and that Soze arranged the

400
00:21:01.200 --> 00:21:04.500
original police lineup to bring them together. What appeared to

401
00:21:04.539 --> 00:21:07.740
be the inciting incident is now revealed as the first

402
00:21:07.799 --> 00:21:11.019
stage of a larger plan. So to repay their debts,

403
00:21:11.079 --> 00:21:13.220
the men must attack a ship in the San Pedro

404
00:21:13.259 --> 00:21:17.579
Harbor and destroy a cocaine shipment. The screenplay's central motivation changes.

405
00:21:17.880 --> 00:21:21.039
They're no longer committing crimes for revenge or benefit. They're

406
00:21:21.099 --> 00:21:24.660
fighting for their survival. Verbal then tells Kuyon the legend

407
00:21:24.740 --> 00:21:28.609
of Kaiser Soze. Whether the story is true matters.

408
00:21:28.400 --> 00:21:29.349
Less than its effect.

409
00:21:30.180 --> 00:21:33.049
Jose stops feeling like an ordinary criminal and becomes an

410
00:21:33.109 --> 00:21:39.130
almost supernatural force, capable of controlling events without appearing. Fenster

411
00:21:39.190 --> 00:21:42.319
attempts to run and is murdered, eliminating escape as any

412
00:21:42.359 --> 00:21:46.099
kind of option. The others confront Kobayashi, hoping to regain control,

413
00:21:46.460 --> 00:21:48.759
but he reveals that Edie and their other loved ones

414
00:21:48.819 --> 00:21:52.480
are being watched. They cannot run, refuse the job, or

415
00:21:52.539 --> 00:21:57.099
kill the messengers. Every action in Act 2 reduces their

416
00:21:57.160 --> 00:22:01.140
freedom until the harbor becomes their only possible destination. As

417
00:22:01.180 --> 00:22:04.720
they prepare for the attack, Keaton cannot locate the cocaine

418
00:22:04.759 --> 00:22:08.490
they were sent to destroy. That missing piece redirects the

419
00:22:08.509 --> 00:22:11.430
mystery going into Act 3. If the job isn't really

420
00:22:11.450 --> 00:22:15.910
about drugs, what or who does Kaiser Soze need eliminated

421
00:22:15.990 --> 00:22:18.779
aboard the ship? By the end of Act 2, Soze

422
00:22:18.819 --> 00:22:22.339
appears to be controlling their lives. What they don't realize

423
00:22:22.619 --> 00:22:25.480
is that he's already standing among them controlling the story.

424
00:22:27.460 --> 00:22:30.960
So every option is gradually just removed from the group.

425
00:22:31.059 --> 00:22:33.279
They can't run. They can't refuse the jobs. They can't

426
00:22:33.319 --> 00:22:34.039
kill Kobayashi.

427
00:22:35.460 --> 00:22:39.559
How does that tightening, that structure affect the tension?

428
00:22:41.299 --> 00:22:45.259
I mean, these guys are being bottlenecked and just every

429
00:22:45.299 --> 00:22:47.980
time they get closer to, especially to that ship. And you,

430
00:22:48.000 --> 00:22:51.660
I think you ultimately know that they are all going

431
00:22:51.700 --> 00:22:53.640
into their death. And I think they all know that too,

432
00:22:54.319 --> 00:22:57.460
but it's still, you want to know who is behind

433
00:22:57.519 --> 00:23:00.099
all this. What is up with the customs? Like you said,

434
00:23:00.440 --> 00:23:02.940
who or what is going, you know, is on this

435
00:23:02.960 --> 00:23:06.599
shipment and what's, why is this such a big deal? And,

436
00:23:06.640 --> 00:23:11.559
you know, and so important, you know, the, can't and

437
00:23:11.599 --> 00:23:13.539
they don't you know don't trust the cops they all

438
00:23:13.579 --> 00:23:16.420
have records everything you know basically you know.

439
00:23:16.289 --> 00:23:17.690
Being blackmailed and like you said it.

440
00:23:19.490 --> 00:23:23.089
They apparently stole from kaiser so they owe him um

441
00:23:23.390 --> 00:23:26.329
and then you know you do kind of wonder is

442
00:23:26.410 --> 00:23:29.680
anybody going to make it out of this but yeah

443
00:23:30.440 --> 00:23:33.220
um so it just makes that you know all that

444
00:23:33.339 --> 00:23:37.809
tension of just there's so many everything with every scene,

445
00:23:37.869 --> 00:23:40.509
it's just, there's more, you know, more, more questions to

446
00:23:40.529 --> 00:23:40.809
be had.

447
00:23:40.869 --> 00:23:42.670
And you're like, what the heck is going on here?

448
00:23:42.690 --> 00:23:43.940
And who is doing all of this?

449
00:23:46.460 --> 00:23:46.700
Yeah.

450
00:23:46.859 --> 00:23:48.019
So it keeps you interested.

451
00:23:48.420 --> 00:23:48.640
Yeah.

452
00:23:48.660 --> 00:23:51.539
And the fact that, I mean, they've got every tiny

453
00:23:51.680 --> 00:23:54.680
little detail that they've ever done. No, every single detail

454
00:23:54.720 --> 00:23:56.319
about pieces of their family.

455
00:23:56.740 --> 00:23:57.019
Yes.

456
00:23:57.099 --> 00:24:00.660
And I think it's this for even the, the, the

457
00:24:00.759 --> 00:24:04.230
remaining four is this curiosity to know who the hell

458
00:24:04.289 --> 00:24:04.710
is this guy?

459
00:24:05.309 --> 00:24:05.640
Right.

460
00:24:05.680 --> 00:24:06.289
We're going to do this.

461
00:24:06.440 --> 00:24:08.450
It's like this guy knows things that the cops probably

462
00:24:08.490 --> 00:24:09.210
don't even know.

463
00:24:09.269 --> 00:24:09.450
Yeah.

464
00:24:09.849 --> 00:24:13.210
I think they want to get the job done just

465
00:24:13.230 --> 00:24:16.430
so they can try to confront Kaiser Soze and kill him.

466
00:24:16.490 --> 00:24:18.710
Right. Completely being blinded to like.

467
00:24:18.730 --> 00:24:20.960
Exactly. Or at least know who it is.

468
00:24:21.450 --> 00:24:22.849
The devil walks among us.

469
00:24:22.890 --> 00:24:25.329
Yes. To see if he's real or not.

470
00:24:25.430 --> 00:24:25.750
Yes.

471
00:24:26.069 --> 00:24:26.390
Yeah.

472
00:24:27.349 --> 00:24:30.730
Well, it's time for act three. The man behind the story.

473
00:24:31.750 --> 00:24:34.069
Act three sends the remaining four men to the San

474
00:24:34.109 --> 00:24:36.900
Pedro Harbor. Keaton has been unable to confirm that any

475
00:24:36.940 --> 00:24:40.599
cocaine is aboard the ship, but Soze has eliminated every alternative.

476
00:24:41.160 --> 00:24:43.440
The men proceed with the attack because their lives and

477
00:24:43.460 --> 00:24:46.299
their lives of their family depend on it. The operation

478
00:24:46.319 --> 00:24:49.119
begins like the violent climax of a heist film, but

479
00:24:49.160 --> 00:24:53.289
the promised drug transaction is a deception. Hockney and McManus

480
00:24:53.390 --> 00:24:56.930
are killed while Keaton searches the ship without finding any cocaine.

481
00:24:57.490 --> 00:24:59.589
The true target is a witness aboard the ship who

482
00:24:59.630 --> 00:25:04.000
can identify Kaiser Soze. The entire operation has been designed

483
00:25:04.200 --> 00:25:07.759
to eliminate him and everyone else who might connect Soze

484
00:25:07.839 --> 00:25:11.170
to his death. The unknown killer murders the witness and

485
00:25:11.190 --> 00:25:14.869
confronts Keaton. According to Verbal, he watches from a hiding

486
00:25:14.910 --> 00:25:17.690
place as the man shoots Keaton and destroys the ship.

487
00:25:18.309 --> 00:25:22.450
The physical climax does not solve the mystery. Instead, the

488
00:25:22.470 --> 00:25:25.759
screenplay returns to the interrogation room where Kuyon attempts to

489
00:25:25.799 --> 00:25:29.539
give Verbal's story a clear ending. And after learning there

490
00:25:29.559 --> 00:25:32.579
were no drugs aboard the ship, Kuyon concludes that Keaton

491
00:25:32.619 --> 00:25:35.440
was Sozay. He believes Keaton used the other men to

492
00:25:35.509 --> 00:25:38.369
reach the witness, faked his death, and left Verbal alive

493
00:25:38.390 --> 00:25:40.869
to tell the authorities exactly what he wanted him to hear.

494
00:25:41.529 --> 00:25:45.150
The theory fits Kuyon's belief that Keaton never changed. Verbal

495
00:25:45.170 --> 00:25:48.700
breaks down and finally agrees that Keaton controlled everything, allowing

496
00:25:48.740 --> 00:25:51.740
Kuyon to believe he has solved the case. But this

497
00:25:51.799 --> 00:25:56.519
is the screenplay's false resolution. After Verbal leaves, Kuyon recognizes

498
00:25:56.579 --> 00:25:58.660
pieces of his story on the bulletin board.

499
00:25:58.480 --> 00:26:00.200
And coffee cup. Redfoot.

500
00:26:00.450 --> 00:26:04.309
Bricks Marlin, a barbershop quartet in Skokie, and the name Kobayashi.

501
00:26:04.789 --> 00:26:08.269
Verbal wasn't struggling to remember the past. He was constructing

502
00:26:08.329 --> 00:26:10.880
a story from objects around him and shaping it around

503
00:26:10.940 --> 00:26:15.519
Kuyon's obsession with Keaton. Outside, Verbal's limp disappears, his disabled

504
00:26:15.539 --> 00:26:19.039
hand regains its coordination, and he operates the same antique

505
00:26:19.099 --> 00:26:22.490
lighter used by Keaton's killer. At the same time, the

506
00:26:22.529 --> 00:26:26.430
composite sketch of Soze arrives, and it resembles Verbal. The

507
00:26:26.450 --> 00:26:30.690
boat attack, Kuyon's theory, and Verbal's escape form three climaxes.

508
00:26:31.329 --> 00:26:36.259
Physical action, a false solution, and finally, the truth. The

509
00:26:36.299 --> 00:26:40.140
reveal identifies Verbal as Soze, but creates a larger mystery

510
00:26:40.180 --> 00:26:43.779
about how much of the story was real. Kuyon loses

511
00:26:44.119 --> 00:26:47.579
because he mistakes a satisfying explanation for the correct one.

512
00:26:48.299 --> 00:26:51.980
The screenplay begins by hiding Soze's face. It ends by

513
00:26:52.049 --> 00:26:55.049
revealing that we've been looking directly at him and listening

514
00:26:55.109 --> 00:27:00.740
to him control the story the entire time. So does

515
00:27:00.799 --> 00:27:03.660
the ending answer the central mystery or replace it with

516
00:27:03.740 --> 00:27:06.779
more interesting questions about what was real?

517
00:27:07.619 --> 00:27:10.349
Definitely replaces more questions about what is real.

518
00:27:11.029 --> 00:27:11.970
Even this time around.

519
00:27:12.460 --> 00:27:12.680
Yeah.

520
00:27:12.839 --> 00:27:16.980
Oh, yeah, absolutely. You know, just having a fresh rewatch.

521
00:27:17.039 --> 00:27:18.700
And I'm like, I'm still like, who the hell is

522
00:27:18.740 --> 00:27:21.259
Kaiser Soze? You know, it's like, did he really do

523
00:27:21.299 --> 00:27:22.759
that to his family? I'm like, dang.

524
00:27:23.059 --> 00:27:26.660
I mean, if not, that's a pretty dagged story of,

525
00:27:26.759 --> 00:27:30.960
you know, him trying to show his will, you know,

526
00:27:30.980 --> 00:27:33.769
that he would kill his own family before allowing, you know,

527
00:27:33.789 --> 00:27:37.690
them to be killed, you know, by was that Hungarian gang,

528
00:27:37.730 --> 00:27:41.470
I believe, that had come into his, if I remember. Yeah.

529
00:27:42.240 --> 00:27:44.710
Um, yeah, because he's supposed to be Turkish, right?

530
00:27:45.450 --> 00:27:45.650
Yes.

531
00:27:46.230 --> 00:27:49.089
Yeah. Well, that's what he said. Yes.

532
00:27:49.529 --> 00:27:52.750
Yes. So again, part of that. Yeah.

533
00:27:53.410 --> 00:27:53.650
Yes.

534
00:27:54.109 --> 00:27:56.549
What is that true? I, you know, or is he

535
00:27:56.589 --> 00:27:59.359
just so caught up in just the secret and anything

536
00:27:59.380 --> 00:28:01.779
that maybe even, you know, he doesn't quite remember what

537
00:28:01.819 --> 00:28:03.559
his origin story is, too.

538
00:28:03.599 --> 00:28:06.019
He's just so. So deep in it so he doesn't

539
00:28:06.059 --> 00:28:06.980
have to, you know.

540
00:28:07.089 --> 00:28:09.950
You can go down a giant rabbit hole with this one.

541
00:28:10.130 --> 00:28:13.309
Whoever recounts whatever is just going to lead everybody into

542
00:28:13.349 --> 00:28:14.190
another dead end.

543
00:28:14.210 --> 00:28:18.430
I mean, it could be Soze is just an organization

544
00:28:18.589 --> 00:28:20.809
or a name they made up. Right.

545
00:28:21.009 --> 00:28:21.400
It could be him.

546
00:28:21.410 --> 00:28:23.130
The boogeyman, Krampus.

547
00:28:23.369 --> 00:28:24.150
Yeah, I mean.

548
00:28:24.390 --> 00:28:25.250
It's just right up there.

549
00:28:25.289 --> 00:28:28.049
So many things. And then you're like, okay, what portions

550
00:28:28.089 --> 00:28:31.190
of the story did I watch? Do I know were real?

551
00:28:31.529 --> 00:28:32.210
And what portions.

552
00:28:32.230 --> 00:28:32.329
Right.

553
00:28:32.980 --> 00:28:34.440
You know, were made up.

554
00:28:34.460 --> 00:28:37.779
You know, you can at least know for truth the

555
00:28:37.819 --> 00:28:41.609
police line up, the death on the harbors and stuff

556
00:28:41.630 --> 00:28:43.390
like that, but there's a lot of stuff in the middle.

557
00:28:45.069 --> 00:28:49.349
But I think a lot of it, it was a

558
00:28:49.410 --> 00:28:51.809
lot true because there's no reason for Verbal to kind

559
00:28:51.849 --> 00:28:53.789
of make all that crap up. Right.

560
00:28:53.809 --> 00:28:58.859
Yeah, it was like, it doesn't, but it helps his story.

561
00:28:59.650 --> 00:29:00.170
Absolutely.

562
00:29:00.230 --> 00:29:05.170
And then while you have him recounting his many variations,

563
00:29:05.210 --> 00:29:06.559
then you got.

564
00:29:08.700 --> 00:29:09.559
Agent Kuhans.

565
00:29:11.779 --> 00:29:15.240
He already, like you said, he has his answer in

566
00:29:15.259 --> 00:29:18.660
his head and he's trying to bend the evidence and

567
00:29:18.700 --> 00:29:23.210
everything to fit that versus the other way around. So

568
00:29:23.250 --> 00:29:27.279
then you've got following his story, Right.

569
00:29:27.319 --> 00:29:27.420
Right.

570
00:29:30.069 --> 00:29:33.690
That's also a bit distracting too, because he's, he's come

571
00:29:33.730 --> 00:29:38.160
to a conclusion, but without the support of it, he's

572
00:29:38.180 --> 00:29:40.039
just trying to make it all fit them because he's

573
00:29:40.059 --> 00:29:40.720
got such.

574
00:29:40.599 --> 00:29:42.880
A, for lack of a better phrase, hard on for Keaton.

575
00:29:43.119 --> 00:29:45.039
Yeah.

576
00:29:45.920 --> 00:29:48.529
He wants it to be all kind of like, man,

577
00:29:48.569 --> 00:29:49.190
I'm like, what?

578
00:29:49.210 --> 00:29:50.910
So he can say, I knew it. I knew it

579
00:29:50.950 --> 00:29:51.430
the entire time.

580
00:29:51.450 --> 00:29:52.029
Right.

581
00:29:52.069 --> 00:29:52.349
Yeah.

582
00:29:52.430 --> 00:29:54.890
I mean, it was like, what, what exactly is all

583
00:29:54.950 --> 00:29:55.450
in Keaton's back?

584
00:29:55.470 --> 00:29:58.349
And I was really just such a crow in your butt,

585
00:29:58.410 --> 00:30:01.630
you know? So, So he definitely has a bit of

586
00:30:01.690 --> 00:30:05.349
a personal vendetta against this guy too, which interferes with

587
00:30:05.390 --> 00:30:06.190
his job.

588
00:30:06.410 --> 00:30:09.130
I think it is probably affected his career in a

589
00:30:09.430 --> 00:30:12.349
very negative way. It's made him look foolish at times

590
00:30:12.609 --> 00:30:15.630
and he's just not going to take his hand down,

591
00:30:15.670 --> 00:30:18.750
you know, it's just, but yeah, I mean, you can,

592
00:30:20.069 --> 00:30:22.470
you can come up with so many theories at the

593
00:30:22.519 --> 00:30:25.039
end of this film of what you think is real,

594
00:30:25.079 --> 00:30:25.380
but that's.

595
00:30:25.400 --> 00:30:26.079
What's great about it.

596
00:30:26.500 --> 00:30:27.119
Yeah.

597
00:30:28.039 --> 00:30:30.539
And a big giveaway where you know that he's, either

598
00:30:30.599 --> 00:30:33.279
wrong or he's just really going to look like a fool.

599
00:30:33.299 --> 00:30:37.329
Anytime I feel like, you know, a cop or investigator

600
00:30:37.349 --> 00:30:39.869
gets so super cocky where they get right up in,

601
00:30:40.029 --> 00:30:43.230
you know, the witness's face. I'm smarter than you and

602
00:30:43.289 --> 00:30:46.990
I know this and the figure. I'm like, oh my God,

603
00:30:47.049 --> 00:30:49.170
you are going to be proven so wrong and it's

604
00:30:49.210 --> 00:30:52.869
going to be so spectacular that you deserve it for

605
00:30:53.710 --> 00:30:56.619
being such an asshat at your job and, you know,

606
00:30:57.339 --> 00:30:58.960
you're not really good at it if this is how.

607
00:30:58.980 --> 00:30:59.740
You know, you play.

608
00:30:59.759 --> 00:31:01.849
Yeah. So right off the bat, as soon as he

609
00:31:01.869 --> 00:31:04.849
starts spouting that off, I'm like, oh, this, he's so

610
00:31:04.910 --> 00:31:05.769
wrong about everything.

611
00:31:05.849 --> 00:31:07.549
I don't know exactly how it's going to play out,

612
00:31:07.569 --> 00:31:08.630
but I know this guy's wrong.

613
00:31:08.650 --> 00:31:08.730
Yeah.

614
00:31:09.190 --> 00:31:12.730
I mean, he's been obviously chasing him for years.

615
00:31:13.109 --> 00:31:16.250
And he wants him so badly that, yeah, he will

616
00:31:16.289 --> 00:31:21.470
put every, you know, critical thinking skill, every logic looks,

617
00:31:21.769 --> 00:31:25.690
everything just doesn't matter. It's just, he's just so focused

618
00:31:25.730 --> 00:31:27.769
and narrow minded on this that he's just got blinders

619
00:31:27.849 --> 00:31:29.250
on everything else. Yeah.

620
00:31:30.539 --> 00:31:33.599
Well, that's going to close out Act 1, Act 2,

621
00:31:33.599 --> 00:31:37.039
and Act 3 of The Usual Suspects. Now, it is

622
00:31:37.119 --> 00:31:41.859
time to go beyond the page. First up, foreshadowing, symbols,

623
00:31:42.299 --> 00:31:46.220
and setup. Now, we'll go beyond the story and examine

624
00:31:46.289 --> 00:31:50.490
how McQuarrie prepares us for the final reveal, though foreshadowing, symbolism,

625
00:31:50.710 --> 00:31:55.170
and setup pay off. The most direct foreshadowing appears in

626
00:31:55.190 --> 00:31:57.849
the opening. Keaton's killer carries a gold watch and an

627
00:31:58.089 --> 00:32:02.339
antique gold lighter. which he operates with fluid, somewhat showy motion,

628
00:32:02.880 --> 00:32:06.180
which it says in the screenplay. At the end, Verbal

629
00:32:06.200 --> 00:32:08.680
collects a gold watch and lighter from the police. He

630
00:32:08.740 --> 00:32:11.720
operates the lighter with the same distinctive movement, transforming an

631
00:32:11.759 --> 00:32:16.299
apparent character detail into physical evidence connecting him to Keaton's killer.

632
00:32:17.339 --> 00:32:21.740
McQuarrie also introduces Verbal through his voice before showing us

633
00:32:21.759 --> 00:32:26.200
his face. His first observation is, sometimes that's all you need.

634
00:32:27.049 --> 00:32:29.970
The line refers to a truck driver identifying a hijacker

635
00:32:30.059 --> 00:32:33.720
by his voice, but it also foreshadows Verbal's greatest weapon,

636
00:32:34.099 --> 00:32:37.440
his voice, and his ability to tell a convincing story

637
00:32:37.779 --> 00:32:39.400
is all he needs to control Kulian.

638
00:32:40.980 --> 00:32:42.579
Other clues appear in Verbal's behavior.

639
00:32:42.920 --> 00:32:46.240
He recruits Keaton, creates the taxi service plan, and shoots

640
00:32:46.319 --> 00:32:50.309
Saul when Keaton hesitates. Redfoot even calls him the man

641
00:32:50.349 --> 00:32:55.430
with the plan. These actions challenge Verbal's helpless persona. but

642
00:32:55.450 --> 00:32:58.240
the story directs our attention toward Keaton.

643
00:32:58.259 --> 00:32:59.019
As the group's leader.

644
00:32:59.700 --> 00:33:03.119
One especially revealing action line appears when Keaton agrees to

645
00:33:03.140 --> 00:33:08.000
the robbery. Verbal smiles, knowing he has him. Initially, Verbal

646
00:33:08.039 --> 00:33:11.509
has simply won an argument. After the reveal, it becomes

647
00:33:11.549 --> 00:33:15.690
the moment when Soze successfully pulls Keaton back into the crime.

648
00:33:16.369 --> 00:33:21.150
Hands and feet also symbolize identity. Soze is introduced through

649
00:33:21.230 --> 00:33:24.410
fragments of his body while Verbal's twisted hand and limp

650
00:33:24.509 --> 00:33:27.950
define him as harmless. At the end, those same hands

651
00:33:28.009 --> 00:33:31.690
and feet transform, exposing the identity he has been performing.

652
00:33:32.309 --> 00:33:34.970
The bulletin board and the coffee cup symbolize the construction

653
00:33:34.990 --> 00:33:38.700
of Verbal's narrative. They contain disconnected pieces of information that

654
00:33:38.759 --> 00:33:43.079
he arranges into a coherent story. Verbal mentions a barbershop

655
00:33:43.119 --> 00:33:47.559
in Quartet and Scocoy, Redfoot, Bricks, Marlin. Only afterward do

656
00:33:47.599 --> 00:33:50.650
we discover that those details came from the objects surrounding him.

657
00:33:51.480 --> 00:33:55.799
The Hungarian survivor creates another setup. While Verbal is being questioned,

658
00:33:56.019 --> 00:33:59.259
the survivor is helping the police create a sketch of Soze.

659
00:33:59.779 --> 00:34:03.950
This establishes a deadline the audience doesn't recognize. Verbal must

660
00:34:04.009 --> 00:34:08.210
be released before the sketch arrives. Even Kujan's personality becomes

661
00:34:08.289 --> 00:34:11.670
part of this setup. His certainty that Keaton never changed

662
00:34:12.190 --> 00:34:15.400
allows Verbal to construct a story leading him toward the

663
00:34:15.440 --> 00:34:19.599
conclusion he already wants. The final reveal works because it

664
00:34:19.639 --> 00:34:23.510
doesn't introduce new information. It changes the meaning of information

665
00:34:23.610 --> 00:34:27.949
we have already received. McQuarrie hides the truth, not by

666
00:34:27.989 --> 00:34:31.630
withholding the clues, but giving us a narrator who tells

667
00:34:31.710 --> 00:34:36.010
us how to interpret them. Which piece of the foreshadowing

668
00:34:36.090 --> 00:34:39.230
feels the fairest to you once the truth is revealed?

669
00:34:39.929 --> 00:34:41.789
Definitely the gold watch and the gold lighter.

670
00:34:41.849 --> 00:34:44.429
I mean, those are details that, you know, you can

671
00:34:44.530 --> 00:34:47.550
see on the killer without seeing his face.

672
00:34:47.630 --> 00:34:50.960
You have his voice, um, But yeah, when he goes

673
00:34:51.000 --> 00:34:53.659
and picks it up, you're like, didn't Kaiser Soce have

674
00:34:53.679 --> 00:34:55.309
that too in the beginning?

675
00:34:55.889 --> 00:34:59.409
But also I wanted to mention, because they do a close-up,

676
00:34:59.690 --> 00:35:03.610
I believe at least twice, of the stack of ropes

677
00:35:03.739 --> 00:35:04.389
on the pier.

678
00:35:04.679 --> 00:35:06.719
And you think that somebody.

679
00:35:06.739 --> 00:35:10.360
Because Verbal is saying that he was hiding and he

680
00:35:10.420 --> 00:35:15.750
saw everything, that that is assuming that there is someone there.

681
00:35:16.050 --> 00:35:17.469
Behind that watching.

682
00:35:17.610 --> 00:35:19.610
And usually through that, you can see like a glint

683
00:35:19.690 --> 00:35:23.429
of eyes, you know, but there is absolutely nothing.

684
00:35:23.449 --> 00:35:23.829
Yeah.

685
00:35:24.030 --> 00:35:27.710
So if you don't take that for granted and just,

686
00:35:27.869 --> 00:35:30.150
you know, oh, well, maybe I just didn't, you know,

687
00:35:30.230 --> 00:35:32.820
see it. Uh, but you're meant to believe that someone

688
00:35:32.840 --> 00:35:36.260
was behind there, but there wasn't. So if you, um,

689
00:35:36.780 --> 00:35:40.119
you know, stick with your instincts and, and believe your eyes, uh,

690
00:35:40.579 --> 00:35:43.219
then you know, that verbal story is BS from the

691
00:35:43.260 --> 00:35:46.150
get go. Um, that there was no, you know, there

692
00:35:46.190 --> 00:35:51.469
wasn't anybody there, but we're misdirected and shown that, um,

693
00:35:51.730 --> 00:35:56.429
you know, stationary pile of ropes to believe that somebody was, uh,

694
00:35:56.489 --> 00:35:57.179
to add to the story.

695
00:35:57.199 --> 00:35:59.840
And then when you realize, okay, yeah, no, he, yeah.

696
00:35:59.900 --> 00:36:01.599
And just like, like you just even mentioned it, like

697
00:36:01.639 --> 00:36:04.199
thinking about it now and I'm like, okay, there just

698
00:36:04.219 --> 00:36:04.699
sounds like.

699
00:36:04.739 --> 00:36:07.900
We're showing you this, but we're not showing you that

700
00:36:07.920 --> 00:36:10.579
there's anybody behind you. We're just showing you this.

701
00:36:11.360 --> 00:36:13.380
And he even zooms in. Yeah.

702
00:36:13.579 --> 00:36:17.800
It's almost like telling you, there's no one there.

703
00:36:18.469 --> 00:36:18.719
Right.

704
00:36:18.860 --> 00:36:22.289
There's no one there. But just, you know, kind of thing.

705
00:36:22.309 --> 00:36:25.469
That's what's just so great about it. All right.

706
00:36:26.010 --> 00:36:30.269
Dialogue and subtext. Now, dialogue is one of the screenplay's

707
00:36:30.329 --> 00:36:31.030
greatest strengths.

708
00:36:31.070 --> 00:36:31.329
Yes.

709
00:36:31.489 --> 00:36:35.230
McQuarrie gives each character a distinctive voice while using verbal

710
00:36:35.269 --> 00:36:37.150
words to conceal a different story.

711
00:36:36.929 --> 00:36:37.949
Beneath the one being told.

712
00:36:38.699 --> 00:36:43.349
The lineup and interactions establish the suspects through speech. McManus

713
00:36:43.449 --> 00:36:47.699
is aggressive and theatrical. Hockney is blunt and sarcastic. And

714
00:36:47.760 --> 00:36:51.070
Fenster's unusual rhythm makes him immediately recognizable.

715
00:36:51.909 --> 00:36:52.150
Yes.

716
00:36:54.309 --> 00:36:56.610
What do you say in English?

717
00:36:57.030 --> 00:37:00.510
You gotta watch this one with subtitles. Yes.

718
00:37:02.389 --> 00:37:07.110
Well, interesting bit, just a little tangent that I had

719
00:37:07.190 --> 00:37:11.400
read that apparently when they're each reading that, the line

720
00:37:11.480 --> 00:37:14.440
in the line up, When somebody is saying in English, please,

721
00:37:14.460 --> 00:37:16.260
apparently that was Bryan Singer.

722
00:37:16.300 --> 00:37:18.920
I guess that was like ad-libbed and it just fed

723
00:37:19.000 --> 00:37:21.599
into him. Like, what do you mean? And he just

724
00:37:21.639 --> 00:37:24.440
kept playing into it, you know, with that. And then

725
00:37:24.480 --> 00:37:26.239
they all kind of were cracking up laughing.

726
00:37:26.519 --> 00:37:27.840
Yeah.

727
00:37:27.880 --> 00:37:29.000
Because it wasn't English.

728
00:37:29.039 --> 00:37:34.510
We just couldn't understand him.

729
00:37:34.969 --> 00:37:39.530
But Keaton, though, Keaton speaks with greater control, reflecting both

730
00:37:39.570 --> 00:37:42.690
his authority and and his effort to separate himself from

731
00:37:42.710 --> 00:37:46.050
the other criminals. Verbal's name becomes a joke hidden in

732
00:37:46.070 --> 00:37:49.590
plain sight. He explains, Roger, really? People say I talk

733
00:37:49.630 --> 00:37:52.369
too much. The others treat his talking as a weakness,

734
00:37:52.489 --> 00:37:55.289
but it is actually his greatest source of power. He

735
00:37:55.349 --> 00:37:59.110
survives by controlling what other people hear and believe. The

736
00:37:59.199 --> 00:38:03.420
central dialogue battle occurs between Verbal and Kuyon. Kuyon believes

737
00:38:03.460 --> 00:38:06.900
intimidation will reveal the truth. He tells Verbal, I'm smarter

738
00:38:06.920 --> 00:38:10.980
than you. The subtext is the opposite. Kuyon's need to

739
00:38:11.119 --> 00:38:15.570
prove his intelligence makes him very vulnerable. Once Verbal recognizes

740
00:38:15.610 --> 00:38:18.250
his obsession with Keaton, he creates a story that allows

741
00:38:18.329 --> 00:38:22.210
Kuyon to believe he solved the mystery himself. Verbal rarely

742
00:38:22.269 --> 00:38:26.929
tells him what to believe directly. He hesitates, he appears frightened,

743
00:38:27.090 --> 00:38:30.809
and leaves gaps that Kuyon fills. The interrogation sounds like

744
00:38:30.849 --> 00:38:33.869
Kuyon forcing information out of Verbal, but Verbal is quietly

745
00:38:33.909 --> 00:38:38.820
directing the conversation. Verbo's repeated question, whose Kaiser Soze, is

746
00:38:38.880 --> 00:38:42.880
another performance. On the surface, he appears unfamiliar with Soze.

747
00:38:43.340 --> 00:38:45.860
Beneath the dialogue, Soze is encouraging the other men to

748
00:38:45.900 --> 00:38:51.639
describe and strengthen the myths surrounding him. Kobayashi uses dialogue differently, too.

749
00:38:52.039 --> 00:38:54.619
He remains formal and polite while threatening the men and

750
00:38:54.699 --> 00:38:58.230
their families. His restraint makes him more intimidating because he

751
00:38:58.269 --> 00:39:01.329
doesn't need to raise his voice. Every act of resistance

752
00:39:01.469 --> 00:39:05.789
has already been anticipated. During the final interrogation, Verbal appears

753
00:39:05.829 --> 00:39:08.630
to break down and says, it was all Keaton. We

754
00:39:08.690 --> 00:39:12.670
followed him from the beginning. Kuyon hears a confession. In reality,

755
00:39:12.730 --> 00:39:16.389
Verbal is giving him the ending he wants. Throughout the screenplay,

756
00:39:16.630 --> 00:39:20.610
characters say one thing while pursuing another objective. Kuyon appears

757
00:39:20.650 --> 00:39:24.230
to be searching for truth, but wants confirmation. Verbal appears

758
00:39:24.250 --> 00:39:28.010
to be confessing, but is protecting his identity. Kobayashi appears

759
00:39:28.050 --> 00:39:30.989
to offer a choice after every alternative has been removed.

760
00:39:31.619 --> 00:39:36.000
Once we know the truth, Verbal's dialogue changes completely. His

761
00:39:36.099 --> 00:39:40.980
fear becomes reformance, his confusion becomes improvisation, and his confession

762
00:39:41.219 --> 00:39:45.280
becomes the final stage of his escape. McQuarrie doesn't hide

763
00:39:45.360 --> 00:39:48.280
Soze by keeping him silent. He hides him by allowing

764
00:39:48.300 --> 00:39:52.590
him to do most of the talking. Does Verbal's defeat

765
00:39:52.610 --> 00:39:56.039
of Kuhian, does he beat him with better information or

766
00:39:56.079 --> 00:39:57.519
by understanding who he is?

767
00:39:59.920 --> 00:40:01.420
I would have to say maybe a little bit of

768
00:40:01.639 --> 00:40:04.159
both because, I mean, obviously with him being.

769
00:40:05.219 --> 00:40:09.110
Basically the master puppeteer, I mean, he already has all of.

770
00:40:09.130 --> 00:40:15.630
The information, but the knowing Kuhian's obsession with Keaton and

771
00:40:15.670 --> 00:40:16.860
making him the perfect.

772
00:40:17.849 --> 00:40:19.289
fall guy for him.

773
00:40:19.510 --> 00:40:23.449
He definitely, you know, exploits that. So, I mean, it's...

774
00:40:27.059 --> 00:40:30.860
I don't really think, like, really one is more than

775
00:40:30.900 --> 00:40:31.260
the other.

776
00:40:31.280 --> 00:40:33.280
I feel like he uses both.

777
00:40:33.820 --> 00:40:37.639
Yeah, I think he uses Keon's hatred of Keaton more.

778
00:40:38.780 --> 00:40:42.550
You know, he just seems to, you know, listing down,

779
00:40:42.969 --> 00:40:44.329
you know, when he says, like, you know, the guy

780
00:40:44.349 --> 00:40:45.809
I knew was one mean son of a bitch.

781
00:40:46.250 --> 00:40:46.650
Right.

782
00:40:46.789 --> 00:40:47.130
You know.

783
00:40:47.860 --> 00:40:50.219
and, you know, saying all these things about him. So,

784
00:40:51.900 --> 00:40:54.840
and he almost, like you said, he fills in the gaps.

785
00:40:55.550 --> 00:40:58.429
He wants it to be Keaton. He's, he's pushing for it,

786
00:40:58.449 --> 00:41:03.309
you know? And so it, he's doing verbal job for him.

787
00:41:03.929 --> 00:41:04.130
Right.

788
00:41:04.190 --> 00:41:05.829
It's like, here, here's a mad lib.

789
00:41:05.869 --> 00:41:09.130
Just, he fell right into it. You know?

790
00:41:09.190 --> 00:41:09.650
Yeah.

791
00:41:09.849 --> 00:41:10.190
Yeah.

792
00:41:10.210 --> 00:41:12.849
A lot of the stuff he's, you know, making, yeah,

793
00:41:12.869 --> 00:41:15.070
he's making up the stuff, but it's not that he

794
00:41:15.110 --> 00:41:19.809
has the better story is that, I mean, even at

795
00:41:19.829 --> 00:41:20.570
that final breakdown.

796
00:41:20.670 --> 00:41:22.929
It was all him. It seems forced.

797
00:41:23.710 --> 00:41:24.070
Right.

798
00:41:24.289 --> 00:41:25.769
I mean, he, you're like.

799
00:41:25.829 --> 00:41:28.389
He knew he wanted it to be him. Like the entire,

800
00:41:28.449 --> 00:41:31.670
it's like, who did not hide that at all? Um,

801
00:41:32.010 --> 00:41:34.409
I mean, if anything, it would be like misleading the

802
00:41:34.449 --> 00:41:39.690
witness in a way, um, with that. So it's like

803
00:41:39.730 --> 00:41:43.630
how much of that testimony or that interrogation would, you.

804
00:41:43.590 --> 00:41:47.260
Know, because it would be helpful for anything. Um, right

805
00:41:47.320 --> 00:41:47.880
and it.

806
00:41:47.840 --> 00:41:51.280
Wasn't even though right um but just you know it

807
00:41:51.300 --> 00:41:53.690
just happened a conversation yeah but you just you you

808
00:41:53.730 --> 00:41:55.949
know in his own way he kind of was trying

809
00:41:55.989 --> 00:42:00.710
to control the narrative and and verbal just played on into.

810
00:42:00.530 --> 00:42:03.849
It and in a way he kind of did one

811
00:42:03.889 --> 00:42:07.650
more kind of you know middle finger to kuyon oh

812
00:42:07.750 --> 00:42:10.090
absolutely i'm gonna make you look like a fool again

813
00:42:10.269 --> 00:42:10.809
even in my.

814
00:42:10.809 --> 00:42:14.019
Right Yeah, so good luck explaining this to.

815
00:42:14.059 --> 00:42:15.300
When they say, what.

816
00:42:15.219 --> 00:42:16.860
Do you mean you've had him in there for like

817
00:42:16.880 --> 00:42:18.179
three hours or whatever?

818
00:42:18.840 --> 00:42:21.989
Oh, absolutely. So yeah, he's going to be going on

819
00:42:22.050 --> 00:42:22.719
a bender and.

820
00:42:23.349 --> 00:42:24.070
Oh yeah, he's dying.

821
00:42:24.110 --> 00:42:27.889
Even off a bridge, yeah.

822
00:42:29.389 --> 00:42:33.289
Well, let's get into page versus screen. Now, the finished

823
00:42:33.309 --> 00:42:38.289
film follows McQuarrie's screenplay remarkably closely. Its nonlinear structure, major

824
00:42:38.329 --> 00:42:42.179
character turns... and final revelation are already present on the page.

825
00:42:42.639 --> 00:42:46.579
The screen version strengthens that material through performance, editing, and

826
00:42:46.659 --> 00:42:50.400
visual misdirection. One of the clearest examples is the lineup.

827
00:42:50.820 --> 00:42:55.000
The screenplay presents the suspects as confrontational and individually distinct,

828
00:42:55.320 --> 00:42:58.559
but the actors' difficulty remaining serious gave the film scene

829
00:42:58.599 --> 00:43:02.380
an unexpected looseness. Their laughter creates an immediate sense of

830
00:43:02.440 --> 00:43:08.530
camaraderie and makes it believable that these men could eventually

831
00:43:08.570 --> 00:43:13.440
work together. Benicio Del Toro also transformed Fenster. His distinctive

832
00:43:13.519 --> 00:43:16.000
speech pattern was not written as we hear it in

833
00:43:16.039 --> 00:43:19.340
the film, and some dialogue was redistributed between Fenster and

834
00:43:19.360 --> 00:43:23.320
McManus to fit the actor's personalities. Their functions remain the same,

835
00:43:23.679 --> 00:43:26.750
but the performances make the group feel less calculated and

836
00:43:26.789 --> 00:43:30.909
more unpredictable. Another change occurs when Verbal convinces Keaton to

837
00:43:30.969 --> 00:43:34.409
join the taxi service robbery. In this draft, Keaton agrees

838
00:43:34.449 --> 00:43:37.690
and says, I swore I'd live above myself. The finished

839
00:43:37.710 --> 00:43:41.360
film ends the exchange earlier, with Keaton asking, no killing,

840
00:43:41.550 --> 00:43:43.789
and Verbo responding, not if we do it my way.

841
00:43:44.429 --> 00:43:48.110
McQuarrie later acknowledged that the shorter version works better. Rather

842
00:43:48.130 --> 00:43:52.929
than explaining Keaton's conflict, Gabriel Byrne's performance allows us to

843
00:43:52.989 --> 00:43:55.849
see it. The film trusts the actor to communicate what

844
00:43:55.889 --> 00:44:00.090
the screenplay states directly. The greatest translation from page to

845
00:44:00.130 --> 00:44:04.269
screen occurs during the final reveal. On the page, McQuarrie

846
00:44:04.469 --> 00:44:08.150
can explicitly describe Kuyon, recognizing names from the bulletin board.

847
00:44:08.630 --> 00:44:12.989
Verbal's limp disappearing and the composite sketch resembling him. The

848
00:44:13.110 --> 00:44:17.510
film must make those connections visually and emotionally. During editing,

849
00:44:17.530 --> 00:44:20.630
the filmmakers reportedly felt that the reveal delivered the information,

850
00:44:21.289 --> 00:44:25.449
but lacked the necessary impact. Editor John Ottman created a

851
00:44:25.550 --> 00:44:29.280
rapid montage combining the bulletin board, images from earlier scenes,

852
00:44:29.320 --> 00:44:33.739
and overlapping dialogue. That montage allows us to experience Kuyon's

853
00:44:33.780 --> 00:44:38.019
realization with him. We don't simply learn that Verbal fabricated

854
00:44:38.059 --> 00:44:41.139
his story. We suddenly remember the moments when he was

855
00:44:41.199 --> 00:44:44.440
doing it directly in front of us. Kevin Spacey's physical

856
00:44:44.480 --> 00:44:49.570
performance completes the transformation. Verbal's foot straightens, his limp disappears,

857
00:44:49.639 --> 00:44:53.349
and his disabled hand regains its coordination before he operates

858
00:44:53.389 --> 00:44:57.670
the antique lighter. The story remains largely unchanged between page

859
00:44:57.710 --> 00:45:01.250
and screen. What changes is how the deception reaches us.

860
00:45:01.869 --> 00:45:06.039
McQuarrie controls it on the page through description, withheld information,

861
00:45:06.280 --> 00:45:10.599
and point of view. The film adds performance, framing, sound,

862
00:45:10.699 --> 00:45:13.710
and editing. The screenplay gives us the trick. The finished

863
00:45:13.730 --> 00:45:17.849
film makes us feel its effect. So would the final

864
00:45:17.969 --> 00:45:21.190
reveal be as powerful without the rapid montage and images

865
00:45:21.250 --> 00:45:22.230
overlapping the dialogue?

866
00:45:22.889 --> 00:45:27.300
No, absolutely not. I agree. That whole thing, like you said,

867
00:45:27.320 --> 00:45:30.239
you're realizing it as is, yes. It is a.

868
00:45:30.139 --> 00:45:31.099
Slap in the face.

869
00:45:31.730 --> 00:45:36.389
Hole no yeah if it would have been so flat

870
00:45:36.449 --> 00:45:39.800
and you'd have been like that's okay but yeah having

871
00:45:39.840 --> 00:45:42.460
that all like you said it's all coming back oh

872
00:45:42.500 --> 00:45:45.019
yeah these are all these things hiding in plain sight

873
00:45:45.119 --> 00:45:46.579
it was all right there in.

874
00:45:46.500 --> 00:45:50.119
Front of us and he was like oh yeah i

875
00:45:50.159 --> 00:45:54.619
mean and i wanted to see how it it's so it.

876
00:45:54.679 --> 00:45:58.500
Doesn't read as exciting on the page right it does

877
00:45:58.679 --> 00:46:01.519
but it's it's it's Yeah.

878
00:46:01.579 --> 00:46:02.239
I mean, it's all there.

879
00:46:02.260 --> 00:46:05.159
You know, he gets the hand back, you know, he

880
00:46:05.179 --> 00:46:07.880
slips and he says, you know, does the lighter in

881
00:46:07.900 --> 00:46:09.860
the fluid showy way and.

882
00:46:09.800 --> 00:46:10.320
Stuff like that.

883
00:46:10.429 --> 00:46:15.449
But yeah, it is that editing that gives you that gasp.

884
00:46:15.710 --> 00:46:16.510
Oh, absolutely.

885
00:46:16.550 --> 00:46:18.989
Like we, what movie were we just watching?

886
00:46:19.449 --> 00:46:20.250
Right. Yeah.

887
00:46:20.409 --> 00:46:20.610
No.

888
00:46:21.190 --> 00:46:22.360
Yeah, exactly.

889
00:46:24.400 --> 00:46:29.110
And now the moment that defines the script. The moment

890
00:46:29.150 --> 00:46:31.989
that defines the usual suspect is Verbal's story about the

891
00:46:32.110 --> 00:46:36.070
origins of Kaiser Soze. When Kuyon asks who Soze is,

892
00:46:36.329 --> 00:46:39.789
Verbal describes a Turkish criminal whose family was taken hostage

893
00:46:39.869 --> 00:46:43.469
by a Hungarian gang. Rather than surrender, Soze kills his

894
00:46:43.550 --> 00:46:46.630
own family and then destroys everyone connected to his enemies.

895
00:46:47.469 --> 00:46:50.659
Verbal explains that power does not necessarily come from.

896
00:46:50.619 --> 00:46:52.420
Guns, money, or numbers.

897
00:46:52.440 --> 00:46:56.380
It comes from possessing the will to do whatever the

898
00:46:56.500 --> 00:47:01.030
other guy wouldn't. Whether the story is true remains deliberately uncertain.

899
00:47:01.590 --> 00:47:04.769
It may be history, criminal folklore, or something Verbal invents

900
00:47:04.789 --> 00:47:09.119
to transform Soze into a myth, but its effect is undeniable.

901
00:47:09.860 --> 00:47:13.500
After this scene, Soze no longer feels like an ordinary criminal.

902
00:47:13.880 --> 00:47:17.800
He becomes an almost supernatural force capable of controlling people

903
00:47:18.079 --> 00:47:22.280
through fear. This moment defines the screenplay because Verbal is

904
00:47:22.300 --> 00:47:26.070
doing more than delivering exposition. He is using storytelling to

905
00:47:26.219 --> 00:47:30.519
shape how Kuyan and the audience understand Soze. He then

906
00:47:30.579 --> 00:47:34.159
delivers the screenplay's defining line, the greatest trick the devil

907
00:47:34.219 --> 00:47:37.860
ever pulled was convincing the world he didn't exist. That

908
00:47:37.980 --> 00:47:41.780
line explains Soze's method while Verbal performs the trick directly

909
00:47:41.820 --> 00:47:45.320
in front of us. He presents himself as weak, frightened,

910
00:47:45.460 --> 00:47:49.320
and insignificant. The more terrifying he makes Soze sound, the

911
00:47:49.380 --> 00:47:52.099
more impossible it seems that Verbal could be that man.

912
00:47:52.860 --> 00:47:57.150
The story also reveals Soze's philosophy. He survives by sacrificing

913
00:47:57.469 --> 00:48:01.210
every relationship, identity, or piece of evidence that can make

914
00:48:01.250 --> 00:48:05.110
him vulnerable. Even the identity of Verbal Kent disappears once

915
00:48:05.139 --> 00:48:08.039
it has served its purpose. The final reveal shows us

916
00:48:08.059 --> 00:48:10.360
who Soze is, but this scene tells us.

917
00:48:10.739 --> 00:48:11.440
How he wins.

918
00:48:12.239 --> 00:48:15.400
He understands what people fear, gives them a story that

919
00:48:15.440 --> 00:48:18.010
explains that fear, and allows the story to become more

920
00:48:18.090 --> 00:48:21.590
powerful than the man behind it. Soze does not simply

921
00:48:21.710 --> 00:48:26.289
hide inside the story, he creates it. So do you

922
00:48:26.329 --> 00:48:29.389
believe that Verbal is telling us Soze's real history or

923
00:48:29.429 --> 00:48:33.949
is he creating this legend? And does the scene become

924
00:48:33.989 --> 00:48:35.909
more powerful because we never really.

925
00:48:35.710 --> 00:48:36.340
Know for certain?

926
00:48:38.239 --> 00:48:41.239
Definitely becomes more powerful because, yeah, you don't know what

927
00:48:41.280 --> 00:48:41.860
to believe.

928
00:48:42.920 --> 00:48:45.179
It's like you wouldn't put it past him. But I

929
00:48:47.420 --> 00:48:49.780
think that kind of an origin story. I don't know.

930
00:48:49.880 --> 00:48:51.760
I think it's more smoke and mirrors.

931
00:48:52.889 --> 00:48:54.969
I think it's a very good story and it's a

932
00:48:55.010 --> 00:48:58.940
very interesting story as far as demonstrating, yeah, the will

933
00:48:59.000 --> 00:49:02.699
to do what others wouldn't, which you just murdered your

934
00:49:02.739 --> 00:49:06.619
own family so that the game wouldn't do it. Or

935
00:49:06.659 --> 00:49:09.739
just what a power play of like, you think you

936
00:49:09.760 --> 00:49:10.760
can get me?

937
00:49:11.030 --> 00:49:11.889
No, look at this.

938
00:49:11.929 --> 00:49:14.110
I'm going to wipe out my whole family. What can

939
00:49:14.150 --> 00:49:16.909
you do to me? You know, kind of a thing.

940
00:49:16.949 --> 00:49:19.670
And then going after, you know, everybody and their family

941
00:49:19.710 --> 00:49:24.769
and their nieces and nephews and probably the animals, um, uh,

942
00:49:25.130 --> 00:49:25.829
not the animals.

943
00:49:26.429 --> 00:49:31.559
Um, so who knows what, what.

944
00:49:31.409 --> 00:49:32.880
Really was, but I think a lot of it is

945
00:49:32.920 --> 00:49:34.539
just like you said, it just feeds into like that,

946
00:49:34.559 --> 00:49:37.780
you know, that boogeyman that, you know, the bleakening type

947
00:49:37.820 --> 00:49:38.280
of thing.

948
00:49:38.360 --> 00:49:41.230
And And you can never know for certain, but would

949
00:49:41.269 --> 00:49:43.010
you want to test it? Yeah.

950
00:49:43.469 --> 00:49:45.489
You know, it's like, you know what? I'm just going

951
00:49:45.510 --> 00:49:46.949
to err on the side of caution. And then we're

952
00:49:46.989 --> 00:49:47.550
just going to say that.

953
00:49:47.570 --> 00:49:48.329
Yeah, that happened.

954
00:49:48.349 --> 00:49:49.150
You know? Yeah.

955
00:49:49.170 --> 00:49:50.909
I mean, I'm sure we would love, I'm not going

956
00:49:50.929 --> 00:49:53.090
to Kaiser Soze the movie or the prequel.

957
00:49:53.300 --> 00:49:53.969
Oh yeah.

958
00:49:54.030 --> 00:49:56.460
I mean, even I was thinking that again after the

959
00:49:56.480 --> 00:49:58.840
rewatch is like, how have we not gotten this movie yet?

960
00:50:01.199 --> 00:50:02.619
Are you listening to us?

961
00:50:02.719 --> 00:50:03.039
I know.

962
00:50:03.079 --> 00:50:04.539
How do we not have this movie?

963
00:50:07.679 --> 00:50:12.929
But yeah, I just, I, I, I think even if

964
00:50:12.969 --> 00:50:14.889
it is fabricated, it's such a great story.

965
00:50:15.309 --> 00:50:16.409
Oh, yeah.

966
00:50:17.369 --> 00:50:20.809
It's too good to not be convincing that this guy's

967
00:50:20.849 --> 00:50:21.309
bad news.

968
00:50:21.869 --> 00:50:25.969
Right. And how can you fact check a story like that?

969
00:50:26.110 --> 00:50:26.309
Yeah.

970
00:50:26.949 --> 00:50:28.909
Turkish, Hungarian gangs.

971
00:50:29.050 --> 00:50:31.329
In New York? Who would tell you?

972
00:50:31.369 --> 00:50:34.329
And especially if he wiped out everybody, or even if

973
00:50:34.369 --> 00:50:37.639
he didn't, it's like, who's going to talk to you about.

974
00:50:38.420 --> 00:50:41.760
That guy, you know, like you didn't know. Hell no.

975
00:50:41.900 --> 00:50:46.539
Shutting doors, locking windows. You know, exactly. There is no

976
00:50:46.579 --> 00:50:49.519
way you can never get to the bottom of that anyway. Yeah.

977
00:50:50.980 --> 00:50:53.699
Well, now it's time for legacy and lessons. The usual

978
00:50:53.760 --> 00:50:58.179
suspect transformed Christopher McQuarrie from a relatively unknown screenwriter into

979
00:50:58.219 --> 00:51:01.469
an Academy Award winner. The screenplay won both the Academy

980
00:51:01.510 --> 00:51:05.500
Award and the BAFTA for best original screenplay. In 2006,

981
00:51:05.500 --> 00:51:08.820
the Writers Guild of America ranked it number 35 on

982
00:51:08.860 --> 00:51:12.760
its list of the 101 greatest screenplays. Its legacy, however,

983
00:51:12.840 --> 00:51:16.739
is not simply that it contains a memorable twist. The

984
00:51:16.880 --> 00:51:19.530
ending works because the revelation changes the meaning of the

985
00:51:19.590 --> 00:51:23.769
story rather than replacing it. Macquarie gives us essential facts

986
00:51:23.789 --> 00:51:25.570
from the beginning. Keaton is killed.

987
00:51:25.789 --> 00:51:26.590
Verbal survives.

988
00:51:26.929 --> 00:51:30.309
Soze is connected to the massacre and five criminals were

989
00:51:30.349 --> 00:51:34.079
deliberately brought together. The deception comes from how Verbal arranges

990
00:51:34.119 --> 00:51:37.860
those facts and directs our attention toward Keaton. That leads

991
00:51:37.889 --> 00:51:40.690
to the first lesson. A twist should be built on

992
00:51:40.789 --> 00:51:44.889
information the audience has already received. The gold lighter, watch,

993
00:51:45.289 --> 00:51:48.710
false disability, bulletin board, and Verbal's control over the group

994
00:51:48.769 --> 00:51:52.590
are all established before the reveal. The ending is surprising,

995
00:51:52.630 --> 00:51:55.639
but it does not come from nowhere. The second lesson

996
00:51:55.719 --> 00:51:58.920
is that misdirection works best when it is based on character.

997
00:51:59.590 --> 00:52:01.989
Verbal studies Kuyon and gives him the story he already

998
00:52:02.070 --> 00:52:06.949
wants to believe. Kuyon's certainty that Keaton never changed becomes

999
00:52:06.969 --> 00:52:11.030
the flaw that prevents him from recognizing Soze directly in

1000
00:52:11.070 --> 00:52:15.750
front of him. Finally, an unreliable narrator should create uncertainty

1001
00:52:15.809 --> 00:52:20.190
without making the entire story meaningless. If Verbal's complete account

1002
00:52:20.230 --> 00:52:23.989
were proven false, the ending would feel like a cheat. Instead,

1003
00:52:24.030 --> 00:52:27.059
the screenplay gives us enough independently confirmed events to know

1004
00:52:27.139 --> 00:52:32.090
that the massacre lineup, and Soze's operation were real. The

1005
00:52:32.130 --> 00:52:36.690
uncertainty comes from the names, motivations, and relationships, verbal places

1006
00:52:36.769 --> 00:52:40.349
around those events. That uncertainty is one reason the screenplay

1007
00:52:40.389 --> 00:52:44.650
continues to invite discussion. The ending answers the question, who

1008
00:52:44.829 --> 00:52:48.130
is Kaiser Soze, but leaves us with another, how much

1009
00:52:48.170 --> 00:52:51.590
of his story was true? The greatest lesson of The

1010
00:52:51.650 --> 00:52:55.590
Usual Suspect is that the audience do not merely follow facts.

1011
00:52:56.019 --> 00:52:59.539
We follow the meanings a storyteller gives them. And if

1012
00:52:59.559 --> 00:53:02.530
the storyteller understands what we want to believe, he can

1013
00:53:02.610 --> 00:53:06.630
hide the truth directly in front of us. Does knowing

1014
00:53:06.690 --> 00:53:09.510
the ending improve the screenplay on a second reading or

1015
00:53:10.150 --> 00:53:12.130
does it reduce the power of the mystery?

1016
00:53:13.610 --> 00:53:17.230
I think it improves it. I don't think it takes away.

1017
00:53:17.269 --> 00:53:22.420
If anything, it provides a great appreciation for those layers

1018
00:53:22.519 --> 00:53:25.059
and hitting all those points without, like you said, not

1019
00:53:25.440 --> 00:53:28.849
feeling cheated or you know, or, you know, like a

1020
00:53:29.070 --> 00:53:33.219
cop-out ending or something not so obvious, but yet.

1021
00:53:33.159 --> 00:53:37.179
The clues were there. You know, a bunch of little Easter.

1022
00:53:37.039 --> 00:53:39.500
Eggs that you can go, oh, but that's what makes

1023
00:53:39.599 --> 00:53:44.530
that story so great. But still leaving, wondering, you know,

1024
00:53:44.590 --> 00:53:47.070
how much of this was all true, even though the

1025
00:53:49.210 --> 00:53:55.139
kind of the more important thing needs have been met,

1026
00:53:55.179 --> 00:53:58.280
you know, from the film, you know, and definitely not disappointing.

1027
00:53:58.340 --> 00:54:01.659
So I think it just provides a greater appreciation for

1028
00:54:01.719 --> 00:54:06.840
how that all came together without being so obvious and

1029
00:54:06.900 --> 00:54:09.159
being very intelligently done.

1030
00:54:09.179 --> 00:54:12.260
Well, one thing I do hope is true is that

1031
00:54:12.300 --> 00:54:15.289
I hope it was Hockney that took the truck of guns.

1032
00:54:16.289 --> 00:54:16.429
Yes.

1033
00:54:16.510 --> 00:54:18.670
Because when they go, when he's like, took a truck

1034
00:54:18.710 --> 00:54:20.369
and they all look over and he's just like, Yeah,

1035
00:54:20.429 --> 00:54:22.070
it was me.

1036
00:54:22.130 --> 00:54:22.989
I love that.

1037
00:54:23.340 --> 00:54:24.559
Yeah.

1038
00:54:25.260 --> 00:54:28.460
So we can kind of blame this on him. Yeah.

1039
00:54:28.659 --> 00:54:29.159
Yeah.

1040
00:54:29.179 --> 00:54:29.820
That was you.

1041
00:54:30.280 --> 00:54:32.119
He's like, what are you going to do?

1042
00:54:32.440 --> 00:54:32.719
Yeah.

1043
00:54:32.820 --> 00:54:33.840
You, you messed up.

1044
00:54:33.920 --> 00:54:37.210
And, you know, and speaking of like Kevin Pollak being

1045
00:54:37.230 --> 00:54:39.050
in that serious role, I was only used to kind

1046
00:54:39.090 --> 00:54:40.929
of seeing him and like, Oh yeah. Like, you know,

1047
00:54:41.429 --> 00:54:43.489
grumpy old men and grumpy old men and those, you know,

1048
00:54:43.550 --> 00:54:44.710
low key type of things.

1049
00:54:44.809 --> 00:54:47.250
And, uh, not low key. I didn't mean like that,

1050
00:54:47.269 --> 00:54:50.789
but more, uh, light, I guess light is what I meant. Um,

1051
00:54:51.349 --> 00:54:54.659
and then seeing him like in this, it was interesting.

1052
00:54:54.699 --> 00:54:55.780
I'm like, you know what? I kind of want to

1053
00:54:55.800 --> 00:54:57.219
see Kevin, Kevin Paul.

1054
00:54:57.260 --> 00:54:58.599
It's a great ensemble.

1055
00:54:59.039 --> 00:54:59.340
Yeah.

1056
00:54:59.440 --> 00:55:00.800
Oh no. It was a great ensemble.

1057
00:55:00.900 --> 00:55:04.300
It was very, very good. Uh, you know, very well done.

1058
00:55:04.519 --> 00:55:08.469
Gabriel Burnham. He's just amazing. Whatever he does. So, um,

1059
00:55:08.710 --> 00:55:10.389
but yes, great, great cast.

1060
00:55:10.489 --> 00:55:11.150
If yeah.

1061
00:55:11.210 --> 00:55:15.590
Along with this, the story, the, the reveal, the, yeah,

1062
00:55:15.909 --> 00:55:17.380
the satisfaction of all of that.

1063
00:55:18.050 --> 00:55:18.599
Great cast.

1064
00:55:18.860 --> 00:55:19.679
Yeah.

1065
00:55:19.699 --> 00:55:21.760
You get a smile on your face after watching it.

1066
00:55:21.760 --> 00:55:24.139
You're like, oh, that was, you're like, that was worth

1067
00:55:24.280 --> 00:55:24.840
my time.

1068
00:55:25.320 --> 00:55:29.179
Oh, absolutely. Oh yeah. Totally was. And then just the

1069
00:55:29.219 --> 00:55:31.659
way it ends. And then just like that, he's gone.

1070
00:55:31.679 --> 00:55:37.610
I mean, it's so, it's just so good because that part,

1071
00:55:37.650 --> 00:55:38.469
you know, it's true.

1072
00:55:38.630 --> 00:55:38.849
Yeah.

1073
00:55:38.909 --> 00:55:41.150
You're, you're, you're never going to hear from this guy. Yeah.

1074
00:55:41.769 --> 00:55:44.409
So you, you know what the important things, you.

1075
00:55:44.369 --> 00:55:47.730
Know, what, what truths that matter, but others, you're just like,

1076
00:55:48.150 --> 00:55:49.570
You know, it's okay if I don't know. I mean,

1077
00:55:49.610 --> 00:55:53.889
it would be an interesting, you know, Kaiser Soze origin story.

1078
00:55:53.949 --> 00:55:55.289
But, you know, it's okay.

1079
00:55:56.380 --> 00:55:56.929
You never know.

1080
00:55:57.460 --> 00:55:57.880
It's right.

1081
00:55:58.340 --> 00:56:01.500
Well, before we close things out, it is time for

1082
00:56:01.659 --> 00:56:05.179
our companion picks. Now, my companion pick for the usual

1083
00:56:05.219 --> 00:56:11.250
suspects is 1950s Akira Kurosawa's Rashomon. Now, the film presents

1084
00:56:11.289 --> 00:56:14.860
several conflicting accounts of the same violent event. Each person

1085
00:56:14.900 --> 00:56:18.179
describes a version that protects their pride, shifts responsibility, or

1086
00:56:18.239 --> 00:56:21.659
presents them in a more favorable light. Instead of identifying

1087
00:56:21.820 --> 00:56:25.219
one account as completely truthful, the film forces us to

1088
00:56:25.260 --> 00:56:29.110
question whether objective truth can never ever be recovered from

1089
00:56:29.150 --> 00:56:32.570
personal testimony. That makes it an ideal companion to the

1090
00:56:32.650 --> 00:56:36.380
usual suspects. Verbal gives us only one version of what happened,

1091
00:56:36.929 --> 00:56:40.760
but this account gives different levels of the truth. The

1092
00:56:40.800 --> 00:56:43.480
massacre occurred, the five criminals were brought together, and someone

1093
00:56:43.500 --> 00:56:46.929
aboard the ship could identify Soze. The names, conversations, motivations,

1094
00:56:47.010 --> 00:56:48.969
and Verbal's role in those events may have been altered.

1095
00:56:49.409 --> 00:56:52.889
The major difference in Rashomon gives us several unreliable narrators

1096
00:56:52.929 --> 00:56:56.179
whose story contradict one another. If the usual suspects leaves

1097
00:56:56.199 --> 00:56:59.820
you wondering how much of Verbal's story was true, try Rashomon.

1098
00:56:59.840 --> 00:57:03.079
You might like it. What do you got for your

1099
00:57:03.139 --> 00:57:03.929
companion pick, Angelo?

1100
00:57:04.909 --> 00:57:10.250
I chose 1997's L.A. Confidential, another one of my absolute favorites.

1101
00:57:10.269 --> 00:57:14.809
Not just the writing, but the characters, the ensemble.

1102
00:57:15.289 --> 00:57:19.090
Also stars Kevin Spacey. You've got the corrupt cops.

1103
00:57:19.139 --> 00:57:24.280
You've got a hidden in plain sight criminal. Also with

1104
00:57:24.380 --> 00:57:28.360
the pseudonym in a way with how it.

1105
00:57:28.500 --> 00:57:31.920
Was kind of given. I don't want to give anything

1106
00:57:31.960 --> 00:57:32.760
away for people.

1107
00:57:33.530 --> 00:57:35.010
I mean, I know it's been almost 30 years since

1108
00:57:35.050 --> 00:57:36.710
this movie's been out, so you should have watched it

1109
00:57:36.750 --> 00:57:42.469
by now. Um, but there's a particular name that was

1110
00:57:42.510 --> 00:57:45.909
given to like an unknown boogeyman and somehow gets attached

1111
00:57:45.929 --> 00:57:49.409
to this particular, um, person behind.

1112
00:57:49.170 --> 00:57:53.530
All the cry, uh, Ro, Ro, Rossi, Rossi, Tomasi, Tomasi.

1113
00:57:53.590 --> 00:57:53.789
Yes.

1114
00:57:54.050 --> 00:58:01.369
Um, But it's one of my faves. And plus, I mean,

1115
00:58:01.389 --> 00:58:07.030
you've got the– I love that movie too. Yeah, the– oh,

1116
00:58:07.050 --> 00:58:10.050
my God. Sorry, I'm having a hard time finding my words.

1117
00:58:10.170 --> 00:58:12.929
Well, you've got to think. Kevin Spacey had like– 40s.

1118
00:58:12.929 --> 00:58:13.849
50s, yeah.

1119
00:58:14.369 --> 00:58:15.889
That– That just.

1120
00:58:18.010 --> 00:58:19.739
Like– Oh, my God. You're going to have to edit

1121
00:58:19.760 --> 00:58:21.119
my whole thing. Film noir.

1122
00:58:21.179 --> 00:58:21.840
Yes.

1123
00:58:22.219 --> 00:58:26.559
You know that it's– just, you know, that music, that setting,

1124
00:58:26.639 --> 00:58:28.679
and you've got the, you know, the, the press where

1125
00:58:28.699 --> 00:58:30.599
they were, you know, it's kind of like in the

1126
00:58:30.699 --> 00:58:34.039
vein of, you know, Chicago where the press was so

1127
00:58:34.179 --> 00:58:37.369
into the intrigue. It didn't matter the, you know, the,

1128
00:58:38.599 --> 00:58:40.889
the crime or the murder or anything. It was just,

1129
00:58:40.929 --> 00:58:43.789
you know, headlines and news and, and things like that.

1130
00:58:43.869 --> 00:58:44.730
And you throw in, you.

1131
00:58:44.670 --> 00:58:49.230
Know, the, the Hollywood or the Hollywood aspect with that. So,

1132
00:58:49.289 --> 00:58:53.489
you know, you've got, you know, call girls and, you know,

1133
00:58:53.630 --> 00:58:56.030
it's just, Like I said, the whole corrupt cop thing.

1134
00:58:56.110 --> 00:58:59.030
And it's just such a great movie. Yeah.

1135
00:58:59.389 --> 00:58:59.820
I love it.

1136
00:59:00.130 --> 00:59:03.329
And what's sad, though, is that it's so good that

1137
00:59:03.530 --> 00:59:05.670
I don't know if we'll ever get a movie like

1138
00:59:05.710 --> 00:59:06.349
that anymore.

1139
00:59:07.090 --> 00:59:08.889
Something that kind of scale.

1140
00:59:08.909 --> 00:59:09.070
Yeah.

1141
00:59:10.730 --> 00:59:13.570
You know, that isn't a sequel to something or a

1142
00:59:14.170 --> 00:59:18.190
giant blockbuster, but yeah. And you gotta think like Kevin

1143
00:59:18.210 --> 00:59:21.869
Spacey went from the, the screenplays that he went through

1144
00:59:22.349 --> 00:59:25.889
in the, like a short amount of time, seven usual suspects,

1145
00:59:26.650 --> 00:59:27.449
LA confidential.

1146
00:59:27.849 --> 00:59:30.260
I mean, say what you want about the man but

1147
00:59:30.280 --> 00:59:31.639
he knew what good riding was.

1148
00:59:31.469 --> 00:59:35.409
Yeah stream of bangers for sure and so i mean

1149
00:59:35.690 --> 00:59:39.650
just diverse even with i mean just everything that he

1150
00:59:39.730 --> 00:59:45.610
is uh you know been in um yeah yeah it

1151
00:59:45.650 --> 00:59:48.110
just he could be just that absolute creep and then

1152
00:59:48.150 --> 00:59:50.369
he could you know play it play a decent uh

1153
00:59:50.550 --> 00:59:52.610
you know character and and things like that but yeah

1154
00:59:52.650 --> 00:59:55.110
those those three yeah yeah like you said back that's

1155
00:59:55.130 --> 00:59:58.329
a good triple feature right there yeah oh absolutely um

1156
00:59:59.429 --> 01:00:01.369
the whole, Oh my God, what's in the box kind

1157
01:00:01.489 --> 01:00:04.869
of so say, and then, you know, his trying to

1158
01:00:04.929 --> 01:00:08.670
have a bit of a redemption arc, you know, and this, um,

1159
01:00:08.949 --> 01:00:13.630
but he still winds up having a helpful hand, uh,

1160
01:00:14.909 --> 01:00:19.489
in getting to the person responsible for, for all the things.

1161
01:00:19.530 --> 01:00:22.250
So he's, you know, he, um, was very useful in

1162
01:00:22.269 --> 01:00:22.829
that still.

1163
01:00:23.250 --> 01:00:23.530
Yeah.

1164
01:00:23.570 --> 01:00:24.409
Great movies. Definitely.

1165
01:00:24.429 --> 01:00:24.570
Yeah.

1166
01:00:24.610 --> 01:00:24.809
Checked.

1167
01:00:24.869 --> 01:00:26.380
I mean, God, yeah. Yeah.

1168
01:00:26.389 --> 01:00:30.070
That also won, um, If I remember right, Best Original Screenplay,

1169
01:00:30.110 --> 01:00:33.760
as well as it got Kim Basinger, Best Supporting Actress,

1170
01:00:35.099 --> 01:00:36.800
Oscar for that, too.

1171
01:00:38.300 --> 01:00:40.639
Well, that is going to be a fade-out on The

1172
01:00:40.739 --> 01:00:44.269
Usual Suspects, a script by Christopher McQuarrie. I want to

1173
01:00:44.309 --> 01:00:47.989
thank my guest for a second time, Angela Norris. Angela,

1174
01:00:48.010 --> 01:00:51.389
what's coming up next for you? I was telling you earlier,

1175
01:00:51.510 --> 01:00:53.219
I know you're on an episode of a film by

1176
01:00:53.280 --> 01:00:55.719
Clerks 2, but I don't know if there's anything else

1177
01:00:55.760 --> 01:00:57.480
you want to jump out there.

1178
01:00:57.500 --> 01:01:00.539
Yeah, we just had a fun month.

1179
01:01:00.599 --> 01:01:05.239
We've done Super Troopers. We've done Clerks 2.

1180
01:01:05.239 --> 01:01:06.400
Jeff and I just.

1181
01:01:06.199 --> 01:01:09.679
Did My Super Ex-Girlfriend, which, to be honest, it's an

1182
01:01:09.719 --> 01:01:12.579
atrocious movie, but it's a fun podcast, and I basically

1183
01:01:12.639 --> 01:01:16.300
roast it. I've got a bunch of stuff coming up

1184
01:01:16.360 --> 01:01:19.900
as far as like The Mummy Returns, Harry Potter. And

1185
01:01:20.820 --> 01:01:22.880
of course, as we get into the fall and spooky stuff,

1186
01:01:23.340 --> 01:01:25.300
I'm not a horror fan, but they're going to have me.

1187
01:01:25.219 --> 01:01:27.900
Do some horror movies.

1188
01:01:29.000 --> 01:01:31.510
So I can give my scaredy cat, you know, two

1189
01:01:31.690 --> 01:01:33.090
cents in that.

1190
01:01:34.150 --> 01:01:36.949
So it's going to be a fun year. All right.

1191
01:01:37.010 --> 01:01:37.650
Yeah.

1192
01:01:40.050 --> 01:01:42.329
Well, next time on A Script By, we are hitting

1193
01:01:42.369 --> 01:01:46.010
the open road with Thelma and Louise, a script by

1194
01:01:46.090 --> 01:01:49.179
Callie Corey, one of the most powerful road movies and

1195
01:01:49.219 --> 01:01:52.480
a perfect blueprint on how to write a screenplay. If

1196
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you want to know how to write a perfect act one,

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make sure you're here for this screenplay because it is

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a perfect act one. So be sure to keep up

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with A Film By with new episodes every Monday in

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our continuing Star Trek series, Phaser Set to Stun, every Wednesday.

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You can also find us on YouTube, Instagram, Facebook, and X.

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Be sure to visit our official website at afilmbypodcast.com or

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email us at afilmbypodcast at gmail.com. We always love hearing

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from you, whether you're sharing your opinions, suggesting future episodes,

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or just debating great movies. Until next time, I am

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Brad Kozo, and remember, every great film begins with a

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great script.