THE UNUSUAL SUSPECTS

THE UNUSUAL SUSPECTS


This is by far one of my favorite movies of all time. It is so original and has an amazing combination of a fantastic cast and an exceptional script. It is one of the greatest suspense endings of all time, but nor because most people cannot figure it out, but because it actually all makes sense at the end and yet you are still baffled and confused at the same time.
I believe “Verbal” uses ethos, which is a rhetoric technique used to directly appeal to an authority in order to strengthen your argument. Verbal basically has a long argument against Kujan about certain events that may have or may not have taken place. Verbal is using his very special talent of deception and rhetorical reasoning towards an authority figure (Kujan) and as a result ends up strengthening his argument.
Verbal makes excellent use of logos as well which is something that’s said with intelligence, reasoning, and use of logic. He makes excellent use of the useless information behind Kujan. He takes all the random information and twists and turns it into information he can use to tell Kujan a long fake story which actually follows certain logic, and Kujan falls for it. He also appeals to the audience, which is called pathos. He does this by portraying his physical and emotional weakness. He shows himself off as a cripple who is also borderline stupid. This is done to get sympathy from the audience. I mean, who wouldn’t believe a dumb-ass cripple totally down on his luck and has had a horrible life? And just like that, he’s gone.