THE OUTFIT twists, turns and impresses as a single-location puzzler
Directed by Graham Moore
Written by Graham Moore and Johnathan McClain
Starring Mark Rylance, Zoey Deutch and Dylan O’Brien
Runtime: 1 hour 45 minutes
In theaters on March 18th
by Matt McCafferty, Staff Writer
The single-location movie has been known to put out a masterpiece every now and then. Rear Window and 12 Angry Men are some early examples that come to mind. I’ll go ahead and say Jeremy Saulnier’s Green Room if you’re looking for something more recent. Maybe that’s stretching it a bit with the single-location thing. But I stand by it being a masterpiece.
Ok, so The Outfit is not a masterpiece on par with those films. However, it certainly serves this subgenre well, and it’s one of the best movies I’ve seen this year so far. Yes, I know it’s only March. Even with so many 2022 movies still to come, I do believe this one will hold up strong by the time we get to year’s end.
The Outfit is full of twists and turns. The film primarily serves as a puzzle with its clues scattered about in each and every scene. It’s not a whodunnit like that of Knives Out, but it’s on the same level when it comes to the way it carefully unravels its mystery. Every minute detail eventually blends itself into the story. As difficult as it might be, I will keep this review completely spoiler-free. Once you see it, you’ll realize just how tough it is to talk about without giving things away. But ok, here we go.
Leonard Burling (Mark Rylance) is a cutter. Not a tailor. He is sure to remind people of this distinction whenever the opportunity arises. Exactly what does he mean by that? Well, for one, being a cutter is much more serious business according to Leonard. If there’s one thing you can be certain of in this movie, it’s that he takes his job very seriously. In his opening monologue, he says, “You cannot make something good until you know who you're making it for.” He talks about making clothes as a duty. A duty to make men look grand when needed; or on the flipside, he can make a person blend into the world if that’s the intention. For a speech centered around making clothes, it was surprisingly profound. Immediately in this opening monologue, you get the sense that Leonard is letting us in on something more than just his approach to making clothes. And immediately, whether you realize it or not in the moment, subtle clues to the eventual puzzle are laid out.
Everything that happens in the film centers around Leonard (Mark Rylance), a tailor (or cutter as he claims) in 1956 Chicago. The entire movie plays out in his shop. His primary customers are the Boyles, a group of Irish gangsters who run his section of town. With the help of his assistant Mable (Zoey Deutch), the two of them successfully run his clothing shop with a ‘no questions asked’ approach. The shop also serves a drop point where the Boyles slip envelopes into a box on the wall. In and out they go dropping off details of their dealings. All the while, Leonard keeps his head down, just happy to stay focused on making his clothes.
The story really takes off when two of Boyle’s men, Richie (Dylan O’Brien) and Francis (Johnny Flynn) stumble into Leonard’s shop one night after a gunfight with a rival gang. Richie is badly wounded with a gunshot wound to the gut. Richie also happens to be the son of Roy Boyle (Simon Russell Beale), the head of the Boyle family. Roy eventually shows up at the shop later on in the night as you might expect. Leonard quickly finds himself thrown into the middle of a dangerous situation. Not only is there some tension between Richie and Francis, but there’s also a secret tape that reveals a rat within their crew. Playing the tape will help reveal exactly who was sharing their secrets with the feds. Of course, it’s 1956, so playing the tape is actually quite the challenge. This means the tape mostly works as a MacGuffin.
For those wondering about the title, The Outfit was a nationwide mob network that Al Capone started in the 1920s. When Boyle’s crew receives a letter from The Outfit about possibly joining the network, there’s added pressure on them to take out their rival gang, the La Fontaines. If they can accomplish this task, they can join the coveted mob organization.
Since I’m avoiding spoilers, I’ll get into my thoughts here instead of playing out any more of the story. I mentioned it earlier, but I enjoyed this movie for the puzzle that it turned out to be. The first half moves a bit slow, setting some things up for later. Some of these clues feel obvious. Others are subtle, only coming to light once everything wraps up in the end.
As you can probably guess, most of the intrigue is centered on our mild mannered protagonist, Leonard. We learn bits and pieces about his past as the story plays out. His life back in London before he came to Chicago. A tragedy that occurred involving a fire at his previous shop. The more you learn, the more you can sense his involvement in the way things play out over the evening. And no, that’s not a spoiler. It’s made quite obvious early on that Leonard is involved in some capacity. The issue is that you never really know where he stands. If you were able to guess, you’re much better than I am at that sort of thing.
Considered one of the greatest stage actors of his generation, Rylance is right at home with the single-location approach. In fact, I could imagine him getting Oscar buzz for this if it were put out during the right time of year. Unfortunately, most March movies of this nature are forgotten by the time we get to the end of the year. But oh well, my point here is just how good Rylance is working with a script that seemed tailor-made for him. Sorry, I had to get one terrible clothing joke in here I guess.
The entire film works off of the mystery of Rylance’s character. As much as I enjoyed The Outfit, there are not too many other elements that hold as much weight as the question mark that is Leonard. That’s not to say the script, the directing, or the costume design aren’t all well done by any means. But it is to say that none of these components will keep you locked in on the screen the way the mystery of Leonard does. Fortunately, we have an actor as terrific as Rylance to make it all work so beautifully.
One last thing that I’ll note is the film’s exploration of moving on to the next best thing in life. We all do it. Finding a better job. Maybe moving to a new and improved apartment or house. Whatever it is, we all think that way throughout different stages of our lives. Every character in this movie is very noticeably thinking that way as well. It’s interesting to see this play out in a limited space like this. Everyone is taking a risk in some way or another to better their lives. Right from the start, we hear Leonard’s assistant Mable (Zoey Deutch) talking about leaving Chicago for a better life. Even the gangsters are all clamoring to move up into better positions. It’s a noticeable theme that although shown to a certain extreme level, is a driving force that we can all connect with in some way.