If any of you ever wondered aloud what gave Benicio Del Toro and Kevin Spacey names in Hollywood, you need look no farther.  Easily one of the best murder mysteries to ever grace the silver screen, this movie will screw with your head the second the credits hit.

     After a shootout at the dock over $90 million in cocaine that was never there, the police are baffled.  They bring in the only witness:  a cripple named Roger (Kevin Spacey), who proceeds to recount the days leading to the fire-fight.

      The cinematography and pacing bring to mind Chinatown (1974) or Ocean's 11 (1960), while still keeping it contemporary with the other great crime films of the 90's.  And, as you will find, this movie has been cited as having one of the most defining, iconic plot twists in all of cinema. Also, fans of Breaking Bad will be pleased to meet FBI agent Jack Baer.

 

     What Makes This Movie Cool:  Casting Against Type.  Hardly any of the actors played a role in this movie that they had played before.  Before this, Spacey was a Shakespearean theatre actor, Palminteri was a gangster, Baldwin was a guest star television actor, and Kevin Pollak was a stand up comedian.  And after?  Well, it all kinda stayed the same, except Del Toro and Spacey became Oscar winners, and director Bryan Singer comic books cool for movies.