The crime genre has certainly done a lot to mythologize gangsters, with classics like The Godfather, Goodfellas, and Scarface identifying the epic “rise-and-fall” stories that are often associated with the mafia. While it is interesting to see that these types of anti-heroes have inspired so many great films, they do not always give an entirely accurate depiction of what the gangster lifestyle is actually like. Grandiose epics about the American dream represent a very small number of actual gangsters, as many operated for an extended amount of time without receiving any significant notoriety. It’s easy to see why these types of stories are avoided by Hollywood, as on their surface, they may seem inherently less cinematic. However, the excellent gangster thriller The Outfit showed a different side of the mafia world by taking place in one location.
What Is ‘The Outfit’ About?
The Outfit stars legendary character actor Mark Rylance as the English cutter Leonard Burling, who maintains a small shop in Chicago that is used as a stash house for the local gangster Roy Boyle (Simon Russell Beale). Leonard has maintained a relatively peaceful arrangement with Roy, but the situation begins to grow more complicated when his son, Richie Boyle (Dylan O’Brien), starts laundering dirty money through the shop. The passing interactions that Leonard has with the gangsters grow slightly more intense; Richie’s second-in-command, Francis (Johnny Flynn), has begun pining for his girlfriend, Mable (Zoey Deutch), who is also a receptionist for Leonard. After a nationwide investigation into the crime syndicate run by Al Capone begins putting pressure on the Boyle family, Richie begins to suspect that there could be a secret informant. Leonard doesn’t want to provoke any sort of conflict, but he knows that protecting himself could end up forcing him to make startling revelations about his past.
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The Outfit does a great job at spotlighting the types of characters that wouldn’t typically be at the center of a crime film. While there are many gangster thrillers that examine the family dynasties that are inherent to the business, O’Brien does a great job at showing the ways in which Richie has to fight to feel like a legitimate member of the organization; although he tries his hardest to look as intimidating as possible, it is evident that he does not have the same cold-hearted instincts that made his father into such a fearsome figure within the Chicago underworld. Flynn also does a great job at exploring the difficult position that an underling is in; while he knows that he does not have the connections that would ever make him a highly ranked member of the family, Francis can’t help but feel frustrated, as he thinks that he is better equipped for a position of leadership than Richie. This puts interesting pressure on Mable, as she is drawn between two very different men with completely opposite approaches to their profession. Gangster films are not always kind to their female characters, but Mable is in many ways the heart of The Outfit.
‘The Outfit’ Uses Its Confined Location to Its Advantage
The Outfit does a great job of using limited space to create suspense, as it evokes comparisons to classic Alfred Hitchcock films like Lifeboat, Dial M for Murder, and Rear Window. Considering that the shop is itself a place in which many characters have to meet in order to pull off deals, it makes sense that it would be at the center of the action. Director Graham Moore, who previously won an Academy Award for writing The Imitation Game, has a keen eye for historical details that make the film feel more authentic.
The Outfit provides Rylance with a great opportunity to play a nuanced character who is in no way a traditional hero. Even though he is the character who is forced to prevent the eccentric personalities in the room from creating a chaotic situation, Leonard’s mastery of the situation begins to suggest that he has not been entirely truthful about the events that predate his tenure as a cutter. The Outfit may have at first seemed like a cool experiment, but it proves itself to be an inventive analysis of the impossibility of entirely escaping the past.
The Outfit is currently streaming on Peacock in the U.S.
The Outfit
From director/co-writer Graham Moore (The Imitation Game), the crime drama The Outfit is set in the 1950s in Chicago and follows Leonard Burling (Mark Rylance), an expert tailor whose impeccable hand-crafted suits are often worn by dangerous mobsters. Set entirely in his modest corner shop, Leonard tries to focus on his craft and stay out of the turf war among rival gangs, until it becomes clear that there’s a mole in their midst and the twists and turns of the story unfold in a way that is not only surprising for the audience, but for the characters themselves.
- Release Date
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March 18, 2022
- Director
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Graham Moore
- Runtime
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105 minutes
- Main Genre
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Crime
