When I was offered this movie for reviewing, I hadn’t actually previously heard of it. I had seen no trailers, TV spots, and didnt seem to notice any previous press releases or other types of emails promoting the movie. In fact, after watching this intriguing and suspenseful drama, I am rather frustrated that the movie studio hasn’t really gone to bat for this movie. Featuring an outstanding performance by actor Mark Rylance, The Outfit is a film that deserves much love and attention from the masses.
Rylance stars as Leonard, a British tailor currently living in Chicago whose business mostly caters to clientele involved in organized crime. In fact the neighborhood gangsters and their soldiers utilize Leonard’s shop as a makeshift post office of sorts, where messages, information, and money can be secretly traded away from the watchful eyes of the law. Though Leonard and his store clerk Mable (Zoe Deutch) have been able to work mostly peacefully without any problems, things eventually come to a head when a rivalry between two gangs escalates leaving a boss’s song wounded from a gunshot.
Richie (Dylan O’Brien), the son of neighborhood boss Roy (Simon Russell Beale), and his fellow soldier Francis (Johnny Flynn) desperately show up at Leonard’s shop to hide out and hopefully get “patched up.” In addition to the heat arising among the rival gangs in Chicago, Roy’s gang suspects that there is a “rat” among the ranks. Hoping to remain uninvolved in any of the drama among the crime families, Leonard does what he can to get Richie and Francis out of his shop as soon as possible. However, things go south rather quickly, forcing the humble and courteous tailor to use his wits to the best of his abilities to get through the long night ahead.
Written and directed by Graham Moore, who co-wrote the script with Johnathan McClain, The Outfit proves to be a tension-filled crime drama that often plays out like a carefully strategized chess game. Moore and McClain do a mostly great job with the development of the plot, story and characters. Though the movie does have its surprises, I managed to successfully predict some of the events and suspected truths about certain characters. Nevertheless, I had a fantastic time with this suspense-thriller that rarely fails to intrigue and entertain.
I have already sung the praises of actor Mark Rylance in this movie, so there isn’t too much more I can say about him and his performance. His character is key to this story and Rylance’s subtle and refined acting is pitch perfect. The movie also features great performances by Zoe Deutch, Dylan O’Brien, and Nikki Amuka-Bird. Of the supporting cast, I most impressed with Johnny Flynn, as Francis and Simon Russell Beale who portrays Irish crime boss Roy.
So even though, the movie studio has put much money and effort into the promotional campaign for this film, I hope that movie fans are paying to attention to any positive reviews The Outfit is getting. I high encourage my readers to seek out this solidly written, impressively directed, and wonderfully acted gangster thriller. This is a movie that deserves more championing than it is getting.