David Edelstein from Slate examines some of the most maddeningly stupid twists in recent Hollywood movies.
Some twists are targeted for their implausibility (The Game) and others for their pure manipulative retardation (Fight Club). Twist endings: the last refuge of a desperate screenwriter.
D. Bones
4 comments:
Just "next blogging" on blogspot, but this is a good one. Enjoyed it.
Chief here...
Good read indeed. These twists are getting out of control. Question on The Usual Suspects appearing on this list though...
I haven't seen it in a while. But I admit I do remember questioning why Kaiser Sose would be in the police station in the first place - just the enjoyment of toying with the cops? That seemed kind of silly. But then I remember satisfying myself (um, let me rephrase that), I remember thinking that it would all be a plausible series of events if he were picked up by the cops right after the boat explosion and needed to invent a way out of the situation. In other words, even though he was shown climbing down the ladder en route to fleeing the scene, we were never actually given clear proof that he did flee in time. So maybe he wasn't able to completely escape, and therefore maybe decided to curl up on the pavement and wait for the cops to pick him up, and thus begin his Verbal Kint story. Doesn't it all play out pretty well from there?
Is there a major flaw that I'm forgetting or overlooking? What's people's main gripe with this one?
To quote David Edelstein, "The problem is that the convoluted scheme to ensnare the rest of the characters doesn't have much of a reason for being."
This might not technically be a plot-hole problem. Conceivably, Keizer Soze might feel the need to dangle his presence before some people every now and then to keep his boogyman story alive (even the Wizard of Oz had to let some people see his giant flaming head every now and then).
And apparently, he lives a double-life as a gimpy snitch named verbal. (Why, I have no idea).
The problem comes when you look back and realize that the entire movie you've been watching never happened. And furthermore, wouldn't need to happen. If Kaiser Soze wanted to kill these guys, he could have had them killed individually and with limited trouble. So why all the bother?
It makes a great story and a fun movie. One of the all-time great twist endings that sort of twists itself into meaninglessness.
But how do you know he could have easily killed the informant on the boat, without enlisting the help of others?
As for your comment that he apparently lives a double life as the gimpy snitch verbal -- remember, all you've seen didn't happen. So, outside of the 2-hour acting job he does in the police station, there is no verbal. never was.
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