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In the 1995 film The Usual Suspects, the most crucial action made by the lead character, Roger "Verbal" Kint (who is revealed to be the mythical crime lord Keyser Söze), is the fabrication of a complex, improvised story during his interrogation by Customs Agent Dave Kujan.
The most vital action is not the heist itself, but the psychological manipulation of Agent Kujan. While sitting in Kujan's cluttered office, Verbal weaves a grand tale about the criminal career of Dean Keaton and the mysterious shadow figure Keyser Söze.
The brilliance of this action lies in its improvisation. Verbal pulls specific details from his immediate surroundings to make the story feel grounded and "real" to the investigator:
This narrative serves a singular purpose: it occupies Kujan's time and plays into the agent's bias (that Dean Keaton is the mastermind) long enough for Verbal's immunity deal to be processed and for him to be released before his true identity is discovered.
Verbal/Söze is helped by two distinct entities:
1. Mr. Kobayashi (The Direct Accomplice):
Played by Pete Postlethwaite, Kobayashi is Söze's right-hand man and "lawyer." He facilitates the action by physically arriving at the police station to ensure Verbal is released on bail. At the end of the film, as Verbal sheds his "limp" and his cerebral palsy persona, Kobayashi is the one waiting in a car to spirit him away just seconds before Kujan realizes he has been conned.
2. Agent Dave Kujan (The Unintentional Accomplice):
In a meta-sense, the antagonist helps the lead character. Kujan's arrogance is the catalyst for the lie. By insisting that Verbal "sell" him on the idea that Keaton was the mastermind, Kujan provides the framework for the story. Kujan essentially hands Söze the tools for his own deception by leaving him in an office filled with "prompts" (the bulletin board) and by refusing to believe that the "feeble" Verbal could be a threat.
The action is confirmed as the "crucial" one in the film's final moments. As Kujan drops his coffee mug (the one labeled "Kobayashi") and begins scanning the bulletin board, he realizes every name and detail Verbal provided was a lie based on the objects in the room. By the time Kujan runs outside, the "action" of the story is complete: Verbal's limp disappears, his "gimped" hand becomes functional, and he vanishes into Kobayashi's car, having successfully talked his way out of a mass-murder investigation.
While the summary refers to 'Kujan's cluttered office,' the office actually belonged to LAPD Police Sergeant Jeff Rabin and was borrowed for the interrogation. This is a minor but meaningful detail because it explains why Kujan had his back to an unfamiliar bulletin board throughout the interrogation and didn't notice Verbal pulling details from it. The summary's phrasing creates a subtle misimpression about office ownership.
The summary presents Kobayashi somewhat definitively as Söze's 'right-hand man and lawyer,' but the film deliberately leaves ambiguous whether the person who picks up Verbal at the end is actually named Kobayashi or has that role. The name came from a coffee mug, so it's likely fabricated. While someone resembling the Kobayashi from the story does pick up Verbal, the film never confirms his true identity or function. This ambiguity is thematically important—it's part of the film's exploration of unreliable narration and the impossibility of knowing what's real versus fabricated in Verbal's story.
While the summary focuses on Verbal's interrogation performance as the 'most crucial action,' it doesn't mention that the entire boat operation was orchestrated by Söze to eliminate Arturo Marquez, a smuggler who could identify him. This was the real motivation behind all the events—not destroying cocaine as Verbal's story claimed. Understanding this helps contextualize why Verbal allowed himself to be interrogated: he had just successfully eliminated the one threat to his anonymity and needed to ensure authorities wouldn't connect him to Söze. This adds important context to the 'crucial action' analysis.
In The Usual Suspects (1995), the most crucial action made by the lead character Roger 'Verbal' Kint (who is revealed to be the crime lord Keyser Söze) is the fabrication of a complex, improvised story during his interrogation by U.S. Customs Agent Dave Kujan. This psychological manipulation is more significant than any physical action in the film. Verbal pulls details from his immediate surroundings—taking the name 'Kobayashi' from the brand on the bottom of Kujan's coffee mug, and pulling names like 'Redfoot' and details about 'Skokie, Illinois' from the bulletin board in the office (which belonged to LAPD Sergeant Jeff Rabin, not Kujan). This narrative serves to occupy Kujan's time and exploit his confirmation bias about Dean Keaton being the mastermind, allowing Verbal's immunity deal to be processed and giving him time to be released before his true identity is discovered.
Verbal/Söze is helped by two entities: (1) A direct accomplice—a man resembling the 'Mr. Kobayashi' from his story (played by Pete Postlethwaite), who waits in a car to spirit him away just before Kujan realizes the deception. However, whether this person is actually named Kobayashi or serves as Söze's 'lawyer' remains deliberately ambiguous, as that name was taken from a coffee mug. (2) An unintentional accomplice—Agent Kujan himself, whose arrogance and obsession with proving Keaton was the mastermind blinds him to the possibility that the 'feeble' Verbal could be the real threat. Kujan provides the framework for Verbal's deception and leaves him in an office filled with 'prompts.'
The climax confirms this as the crucial action: Kujan drops his mug (labeled 'Kobayashi'), realizes every detail came from objects in the room, and runs outside—but Verbal's limp has disappeared, his 'disabled' hand is functional, and he escapes in the accomplice's car, having successfully talked his way out of a mass-murder investigation. Importantly, the entire boat raid was actually orchestrated by Söze to eliminate Arturo Marquez, the one witness who could identify him—making the interrogation performance the final masterstroke in maintaining his anonymity.