Watch the original version of The Usual Suspects
Prologue:
The darkness was all-encompassing. It was as if the world had vanished, and there was nothing left but the void. The only sound was the creaking of old floorboards underfoot. Suddenly, a match struck, and the small flame illuminated the face of a man. His features were obscured by a fedora pulled down low, and a cigarette dangled from his lips. He took a deep drag and let the smoke curl around him.
“You want to hear a story?” he asked, his voice low and gravelly. “I’ve got a good one for you. One that will make you question everything you thought you knew about criminals and heists.”
Chapter 1:
The five men were strangers, but they were all in the same place for the same reason. They had been picked up by the police and hauled in for a lineup. Each of them had a criminal record, and each of them had been in the wrong place at the wrong time.
There was Fred Fenster, a small-time con artist who had been caught trying to scam an old lady out of her life savings. There was Todd Hockney, a hot-headed thief who had been caught red-handed breaking into a jewelry store. There was Michael McManus, a smooth-talking hustler who had been caught running a rigged poker game. There was Rick Kintner, a hired gun who had been caught with a smoking gun at the scene of a murder. And then there was Dean Keaton, the most notorious of them all, a former cop who had been accused of embezzling millions of dollars from the police department.
They stood in a line, each of them facing a wall, waiting for the police to bring in the witness. They didn’t know each other, but they could sense the tension in the air. They were all desperate to get out of there, to avoid going back to prison. And that’s when Dean Keaton came up with an idea.
“We should team up,” he said quietly. “We should do a job together, and then we’ll all have enough money to disappear.”
The other four men looked at him skeptically. They didn’t trust each other, let alone a former cop who had been accused of stealing from his own department.
But Keaton was persuasive. He had a plan, a way to pull off the perfect heist. And the others listened, intrigued despite their reservations.
That’s when they heard the footsteps approaching. The witness was coming, and they had to act fast if they were going to pull this off.
The five men looked at each other, nodded, and prepared to do what they did best. They were criminals, but together, they might just be able to outsmart the police and pull off the heist of a lifetime.
Chapter 2:
The witness was a middle-aged woman with dark hair and a nervous disposition. She shuffled into the room, her eyes darting from one man to the next. The police officer leading her to the lineup nodded at the five suspects and stepped back.
“Take your time, ma’am,” he said. “If you recognize any of these men, just let us know.”
The woman hesitated, her gaze flicking back and forth between the five men. Fred Fenster fidgeted nervously, Todd Hockney scowled at her, Michael McManus smirked, Rick Kintner remained stoic, and Dean Keaton looked straight ahead, his face unreadable.
Finally, the woman pointed at Keaton.
“That’s him,” she said. “The one in the middle. He was the one who held the gun.”
The police officer stepped forward and took Keaton by the arm. The other four men watched as he was led away, wondering what would become of him.
As they were escorted back to their cells, the idea of the heist still hung in the air between them. It was a crazy idea, but the more they thought about it, the more it made sense. If they could pull it off, they would be set for life. They could retire to a tropical island somewhere, live out their days in luxury.
Over the next few days, they worked out the details. Keaton had connections with a man named Keyser Söze, a shadowy figure who ran an underworld empire. Söze was rumored to have access to millions of dollars in untraceable cash, and Keaton had a plan to steal it.
The plan was risky, but it was their only chance. They had to do it quickly, before the police caught wind of what they were planning. They would need to move fast, work together, and keep their mouths shut.
The night of the heist, they met in a deserted alleyway. The air was thick with tension as they made their final preparations. Keaton handed out masks and guns, giving each man their role in the heist.
They moved in silence, their footsteps muffled by the darkness. They broke into the warehouse, cutting through locks and disabling alarms. The cash was there, just as Keaton had promised.
But as they were about to leave, something went wrong. The police had been tipped off, and they swarmed the warehouse. Gunfire erupted, and chaos ensued.
In the confusion, the five men were separated. Fenster was killed, Hockney was captured, McManus disappeared, and Kintner was wounded. Only Keaton made it out with the money, slipping away into the night.
The four remaining men were left with nothing but questions. Who had betrayed them? Who had tipped off the police? And where was Keyser Söze?
They knew that they had been played, but they didn’t know how deep the deception went. And as they were led back to their cells, they knew that they had only scratched the surface of a much larger conspiracy.
Chapter 3:
Todd Hockney sat in his cell, his mind racing with questions. He had been arrested and charged with armed robbery, and now he was facing life in prison. But more than that, he was angry. He had been betrayed, and he didn’t know who to trust anymore.
He had heard rumors about Keyser Söze, but he had always dismissed them as myth. Söze was supposed to be a ghost, a figure so elusive that no one had ever seen him and lived to tell the tale.
But now, as Hockney thought back to the heist, he realized that Söze had been there all along. It was Söze who had provided the intel, Söze who had arranged for the cash to be there, Söze who had disappeared without a trace.
Hockney’s anger turned to determination. He wasn’t going to spend the rest of his life in prison. He was going to find Keyser Söze and make him pay.
Over the next few weeks, Hockney worked on his plan. He knew that Söze was the key to everything, and he was going to find him, no matter what it took.
He reached out to Michael McManus, the smooth-talking hustler who had disappeared after the heist. McManus had always been the most enigmatic of the group, but Hockney sensed that he knew more than he was letting on.
It took some convincing, but Hockney finally got McManus to meet with him in the prison yard. They sat on a bench, eyes scanning the yard for any sign of trouble.
“I know you know something,” Hockney said. “And I need to know what it is.”
McManus shrugged. “I don’t know anything more than you do,” he said. “Söze was just a name, a rumor. I never thought he was real.”
Hockney wasn’t convinced. He knew that McManus was lying, but he didn’t know how to get the truth out of him.
Just then, a commotion erupted on the other side of the yard. Hockney and McManus jumped to their feet, ready for a fight.
But as they looked closer, they saw that it wasn’t a fight at all. It was Rick Kintner, the hired gun who had been wounded during the heist. He was being dragged across the yard by a group of other inmates, his face bloody and bruised.
Hockney and McManus rushed over, pushing through the crowd to get to Kintner. They saw that he had a piece of paper clutched in his hand, and he was muttering something under his breath.
“It’s a name,” he said, his voice barely audible. “A name.”
Hockney pried the paper from Kintner’s hand and looked at it. It was a name, all right. A name that sent chills down his spine.
Keyser Söze.
Chapter 4:
The name on the paper burned in Hockney’s mind. Keyser Söze. He couldn’t believe that they had finally found a lead on the enigmatic crime lord who had orchestrated the heist and disappeared without a trace.
Hockney knew that they had to act fast. Kintner was in no condition to talk, and they didn’t know who else might be after Söze. They needed to find him before someone else did.
Hockney and McManus made a plan to break out of prison. They knew it was risky, but they had no other choice. They needed to be free to pursue Söze and find out what he knew.
They spent weeks preparing, gathering information and supplies. They had contacts on the outside who could help them, but they had to be careful. They couldn’t afford to be caught.
Finally, the night of the escape arrived. Hockney and McManus slipped out of their cells and made their way to the roof. They had planned to rappel down the side of the building and make their escape in a waiting car.
But as they reached the roof, they saw something that stopped them in their tracks. A helicopter was hovering overhead, its searchlight trained on them.
Hockney and McManus dove for cover as the chopper touched down on the roof. Armed men jumped out, their weapons trained on the two escapees.
“Get on your knees!” one of the men shouted. “Now!”
Hockney and McManus complied, their hearts pounding. They had been caught. Their plan had failed.
But then, a voice cut through the chaos. A voice that Hockney recognized.
“Let them go,” the voice said. “They’re with me.”
Hockney looked up and saw him. Keyser Söze.
He was taller than Hockney had imagined, with a gaunt face and piercing eyes. He wore a long coat that billowed in the wind, and his hair was slicked back.
Söze motioned for the armed men to stand down, and they did. Hockney and McManus stood up, unsure of what was happening.
“You’ve been looking for me,” Söze said. “And now you’ve found me. What do you want?”
Hockney and McManus looked at each other, unsure of what to say. They had come this far, but they didn’t know what to do now that they were face-to-face with the most notorious criminal in the world.
“We want answers,” Hockney finally said. “We want to know why you did it. Why you set us up.”
Söze smiled. It was a cold, calculating smile that made Hockney’s blood run cold.
“You want to know why?” Söze said. “I’ll tell you why. It’s because I could. Because I’m smarter than all of you put together. Because I wanted to see if I could get away with it.”
Hockney and McManus stared at him in disbelief. They had risked everything to find Söze, and now he was taunting them.
But then, Söze’s expression changed. It softened, just for a moment.
“But you were clever,” he said. “Cleverer than I thought. I respect that. So I’ll make you a deal. You work for me, and I’ll make sure that you’re taken care of. You’ll have money, power, everything you ever wanted.”
Hockney and McManus looked at each other, unsure of what to do. They had come this far, but they didn’t know if they could trust Söze.
Chapter 5:
But then, Hockney had an idea. He looked Söze straight in the eye and said, “We’ll work for you, but we want a guarantee that we won’t end up like the others.”
Söze’s expression hardened. “What others?” he asked.
“The others who crossed you,” Hockney replied. “The ones who disappeared, or were found dead. We want to know that we’re safe.”
Söze chuckled. “You’re clever, Hockney,” he said. “I like that. You’re right, there are risks to working with me. But I can promise you this – if you’re loyal to me, I’ll be loyal to you. You’ll have my protection, as long as you stay on my good side.”
Hockney nodded, and McManus followed suit. They had made a deal with the devil, but they knew that they had no other choice. They had to work with Söze if they wanted to survive.
Over the next few weeks, Hockney and McManus worked for Söze, carrying out small tasks and earning his trust. They knew that they were just pawns in his game, but they were willing to play along for now.
And then, one day, Söze called them into his office. He looked serious, more serious than they had ever seen him before.
“I have a job for you,” he said. “A big one. And I need you to be ready for anything.”
Hockney and McManus exchanged a look. They had a feeling that this job was going to be bigger than anything they had ever done before.
“What is it?” Hockney asked.
Söze leaned forward, his eyes gleaming. “I want you to steal something for me,” he said. “Something that no one has ever been able to get their hands on before. Something that will make us all rich beyond our wildest dreams.”
Hockney and McManus listened intently as Söze outlined the details of the job. It was risky, dangerous, but they knew that they were the only ones who could pull it off.
They left Söze’s office, their minds racing with possibilities. They knew that this job would change their lives forever, for better or for worse.
As they made their way back to their quarters, Hockney couldn’t help but wonder if they were making a mistake. They had made a deal with the devil, and now they were in too deep to turn back.
But then, he looked at McManus, and he knew that they were in this together. They were a team, and they would do whatever it takes to make it out alive.
And so, they began to plan. The heist of a lifetime, orchestrated by two men who had already beaten the odds. They knew that it wouldn’t be easy, but they were determined to make it work.
They were the usual suspects, but they were also so much more. They were men on a mission, fueled by greed, desperation, and a burning desire to succeed. And they were about to embark on the most dangerous job of their lives.
Chapter 6:
The heist was in full swing. Hockney and McManus were carrying out their plan flawlessly, as if they had done this a thousand times before. They moved through the dark, quiet warehouse like ghosts, their eyes scanning for any sign of trouble.
They had planned for every contingency, every possible obstacle. And yet, as they reached the final room, something went wrong.
The door wouldn’t budge. They had the code, they had the tools, but the door wouldn’t budge.
Hockney cursed under his breath as he worked furiously on the lock. McManus kept watch, his gun at the ready.
Finally, with a click, the lock gave way. Hockney pushed open the door and they rushed inside.
And then, everything went black.
The explosion rocked the entire building, sending debris flying in all directions. Hockney and McManus were thrown to the ground, their bodies battered and bruised.
They stumbled to their feet, coughing and disoriented. They could barely see, but they knew that they had to get out.
They made their way through the rubble, their ears ringing and their heads spinning. And then, they saw him.
Keyser Söze.
He stood in front of them, his long coat billowing in the wind. His face was unreadable, but his eyes were like fire.
“What happened?” Hockney gasped.
Söze looked at them, his expression inscrutable. “It was a setup,” he said. “Someone knew we were coming.”
Hockney and McManus exchanged a look. They had been betrayed. Again.
Söze looked at them, his eyes glittering. “But I have a plan,” he said. “A new plan. And you two are going to be a part of it.”
Hockney and McManus looked at each other, unsure of what to do. They knew that they had no choice but to follow Söze, but they didn’t know what was coming next.
And so, they followed him, into the unknown.
Epilogue:
Hockney and McManus never spoke about what happened that night. They went their separate ways, leaving their lives of crime behind.
But the memory of Keyser Söze lingered in their minds, like a nightmare they couldn’t shake.
Years later, as they sat in a bar, sipping drinks and reminiscing about old times, they saw a news report. Keyser Söze had been caught, and he was being held in a high-security prison.
Hockney and McManus exchanged a look, and then they laughed. They had made it out alive, despite all the odds.
They knew that they had been the usual suspects, but they had also been something more. They had been survivors, fighters, men who refused to give up.
And as they raised their glasses in a toast, they knew that they would always be the usual suspects. But they would also be so much more. They would be legends, in their own way.
Some scene from the movie:
FADE IN:
EXT. NEW YORK CITY – NIGHT
The city is alive with activity. Cars honk, people hustle, and the lights of the skyscrapers twinkle in the distance.
We zoom in on a dark alleyway, where five men are gathered. They look nervous, jittery, as if they are waiting for something to happen.
The camera pans to show each of their faces. There’s Todd Hockney, a wiry man with a short temper. There’s Michael McManus, a smooth-talking hustler with a glint in his eye. There’s Rick Kintner, a hired gun with a stoic expression. And then, there’s Verbal Kint, a small, unassuming man with a slight limp.
They are all dressed in dark clothing, their faces obscured by hoods and masks.
Suddenly, a car screeches to a halt in front of them. The driver rolls down the window and looks at them, his eyes scanning for any sign of trouble.
Todd Hockney steps forward, his gun at the ready. “Let’s do this,” he says.
The other men nod, and they climb into the car. The driver peels away from the curb, his tires screeching on the pavement.
As they drive through the city, the tension is palpable. The men barely speak, their eyes darting around as if they are afraid of being followed.
Finally, the car pulls up in front of a warehouse. The driver turns to them and says, “This is it. Good luck.”
The men nod, and they climb out of the car. They make their way to the door of the warehouse, their steps muffled by the sound of the city.
And then, they are inside. The warehouse is dark, quiet, but they know that they are not alone.
They pull out their guns, their eyes scanning the darkness for any sign of trouble.
And then, a voice cuts through the silence.
“Welcome, gentlemen. I’ve been expecting you.”
INT. WAREHOUSE – NIGHT
The five men, Hockney, McManus, Kintner, Kint, and the mysterious voice, stand in a tense standoff, each man with his gun drawn.
The voice belongs to a well-dressed man in his forties, who steps out of the shadows and into the dim light. His face is hard to read, and his demeanor is cold and calculating.
“Who the hell are you?” Hockney demands, his gun trained on the man.
The man simply smirks. “Let’s just say I’m the one who brought you all together tonight,” he says. “And you’re here for a very specific purpose.”
“And what’s that?” McManus asks, his eyes darting around the warehouse.
The man takes a step forward, his hands clasped behind his back. “I have a job for you,” he says. “A job that will require all of your unique skills.”
The men exchange a look, unsure of what to make of the situation. But they know that they need the money, and they’re willing to hear him out.
“What kind of job?” Kintner asks, his gun still trained on the man.
The man smiles. “The kind of job that will make you all very, very rich,” he says. “But it won’t be easy. It will require precision, skill, and most importantly, trust. Are you up for the challenge?”
The men exchange a look, and then Hockney steps forward. “What’s the job?” he asks.
The man nods, and then he begins to outline the details of the heist. It’s a daring plan, one that will require all of their expertise and cunning. But the payoff will be worth it.
The men listen intently, their eyes wide with excitement. They know that this job could change their lives forever.
“And what’s in it for you?” McManus asks, eyeing the man suspiciously.
The man smiles again. “Let’s just say that I have my reasons,” he says. “But if you complete this job successfully, you’ll never have to worry about money again.”
The men exchange a look, and then they nod. They know that this is their chance to make it big.
“Count us in,” Kint says, his voice firm.
The man nods, and then he turns to leave. “Good. I’ll be in touch,” he says, before disappearing back into the shadows.
The men stand in silence for a moment, each lost in thought.
And then, Hockney speaks up. “Let’s do this,” he says, his eyes gleaming with determination.
The other men nod, and they begin to prepare for the heist of a lifetime.
INT. ABANDONED FACTORY – DAY
The five men are gathered in a dimly lit room, surrounded by tools and equipment. They are wearing black clothing and masks, and they look focused and determined.
Hockney is checking his gun, Kintner is fiddling with a set of lockpicks, and McManus is studying a blueprint of the target building.
Kint is sitting in a corner, his eyes closed, lost in thought. He’s been quiet for most of the planning process, but the others know that he’s the brains of the operation.
“We’ve gone over this a hundred times,” McManus says, looking up from the blueprint. “We know the layout, we know the security, we know the risks. We’re ready for this.”
Hockney nods, a determined look on his face. “Let’s get this over with,” he says.
Kint stands up, his eyes still closed. “Wait,” he says. “There’s something we need to discuss.”
The others turn to look at him, waiting for him to speak.
“I’ve been thinking,” Kint says. “What if this is a trap? What if we’re being set up?”
The others exchange a worried look. They know that Kint has a knack for sensing danger.
“We’ve gone over every detail,” Kintner says. “We’ve planned for every contingency. There’s no way we’re being set up.”
Kint nods slowly, still lost in thought. “I hope you’re right,” he says.
The others exchange a look, unsure of what to make of Kint’s skepticism.
And then, there’s a knock at the door.
The men freeze, their guns at the ready.
Hockney walks cautiously towards the door and opens it a crack, peering outside.
It’s the man from the warehouse, the one who gave them the job.
“Are you ready?” he asks, a cold smile on his face.
The men exchange a look, and then nod.
“We’re ready,” Hockney says, his voice steady.
The man nods, and then disappears back into the shadows.
The men take a deep breath, and then head out the door, ready to carry out the heist of a lifetime.
