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You can forgive Britain’s major movie magazines for not spotting the impact this audacious thriller was going to have. Few had even heard of director Bryan Singer or screenwriter Christopher McQuarrie, and there wasn’t much feature potential in the jobbing actors of the mug-shot line-up. Yet, by the end of 1995, it was vying with Shallow Grave and The Shawshank Redemption for the number one spot in most people’s top tens and Kevin Spacey was suddenly the coolest actor in Hollywood. Was it because it gave the world the criminal mastermind Keyzer Soze? Maybe it was the intricacy of the flashback-packed script and the deft sleights of hand executed by its fledgeling director. Perhaps everyone admired the outstanding ensemble acting. Yes, Spacey stole the show and fully merited the best supporting actor Oscar for his mesmerising performance, but everyone in that rogues’ gallery played their part to perfection, not to mention the mysterious Pete Postlethwaite and confused cops Dan Hedaya and Chazz Palminteri. Or was it simply that noticeboard that kept coming back to haunt everyone? Whatever the reason, it’s a film that demands to be watched again and again — this is good old-fashioned pulp fiction told in the slickest 1990s style.
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