The Outfit Movie Review

“The Outfit” is a movie, as it seems, ‘tailor-made’ to display the talents of the main star. Being a British import into 1950’s gangster-infused Chicago, the main character (a professional tailor, pardon me, ‘cutter’) is there to give some suave class to his ‘gentlemen’. Creating all the stylish suits worn by the mobster elite brings a tense situation to his clothing shop late one night…

Leonard Burling (played by Mark Rylance) runs the Chicago custom-made suit shop in 1959. He has moved there from London, and the local mobsters call him ‘English’. He said he moved to the States after the War due to ‘blue jeans’. He is more than just a tailor he says. He is a ‘cutter’. He gets to know his customer so as to cut the perfect ‘outfit’.

The desire for custom suits was down in London, but in the Windy City – his prospects improved. Especially when his first customer was a local crime lord named Roy Boyle (played by Simon Russell Beale). Burling is now deeply part of gangster’s side operation. There is a locked box in Burling’s back room.

Many times a day, various many people in Boyle’s crew come by and drop off envelopes into the slot. They are greeted by Burling’s assistant, named Mabel (played by Zoey Deutch). She is put off mostly by the gruff hoodlum types who come into the shop. One person the she likes is Richie Boyle (played by Dylan O’Brien). He is the son of the top mobster Roy. Richie never goes anywhere without his backup, Francis (played by Johnny Flynn). One evening, there is a big commotion because there is an envelope with a special mark. This envelope contains a special audio tape inside, along with an ominous note.

There is a group called ‘The Outfit’ that is checking into Boyle’s gang. They are a nationwide crime syndicate, and they want Boyle to muscle out a smaller group in the City. But word out on the street is that local police and the FBI are teaming up to take down these syndicates. Inside the envelope, there is a mystery tape, and a note that says there is a ‘rat’ in the Boyle gang. Hot-head Francis wants to go out and kill the leader of the rival gang, led by Violet LaFontane (played by Nikki Amuka-Bird). Richie and Francis are ambushed and get back to Burling’s shop.

Tensions rise as a bloody and wounded Richie is in Burling’s back room. Francis threatens Burling with a pistol, unless he fixes up Richie right there. Since the news has come out that the audio tape has the incriminating evidence about the ‘rat’, everyone in Boyle’s gang comes over to protect it. That includes Roy Boyle and his bodyguard. But situations get out of control and Francis cannot be contained. Richie is not found at the shop, but neither is the audio tape. The LaFontane crew is out in force, ready to gun down anyone who stands in their way.

Francis returns, and has Mabel as a hostage. She had gone out with Richie many times, so she might know the identity of the ‘rat’. But then the ‘rat’ might be Leonard Burling, or it might be Francis. It could be anyone, and now that the tape is missing, there are raging tempers everywhere. Burling is always a small voice of reason in the overflowing pot of madness. Francis is worried that Roy Boyle might find out what just happened. Roy Boyle is concerned about his missing son, and about the rival mob group. Mabel is worried that Roy or Francis will go off the deep end and murder her and Leonard.

Leonard looks to be worried, but he has also got some surprises up his smartly-starched sleeves. He knows all the ins-and-outs of the Boyle crew. He knows many of the inside secrets, even though he pretends to be little nobody tailor. He knows some little secrets about Mabel, and her desire to get out of the dirty City to see the world. He shows great respect to Roy Boyle and to his son Richie. However, this little ‘tailor’, pardon me, this ‘cutter’ — he might be playing Chess while everyone else around him is stuck playing Checkers.

“The Outfit” is a close-quarters life-or-death drama that happens in a small custom tailor shop. The performance of Mark Rylance (as Leonard Burling) is believable and steady. He has precise mannerisms and speech patterns that make him seem meek and powerless. Yet his character might be the one more powerful than the goons with the guns. His face and pale eyes are taking in everything around him, and he might know more than he is letting on.

Graham Moore has directed and co-written a smart mystery, cloaked with 1950s gangster language and disappearing McGuffins. The writing has numerous twists and reveals, and each one builds on a previous one. All the characters might be the suspected ‘rat’, and all eyes are shifting to see who might be guilty. The rival gang is on the rampage, and the FBI is closing in. The tailor shop is full of desperate men seeking desperate measures.

“The Outfit” has created a movie that is ‘tailor-made’ for lead actor Mark Rylance, so that he can show that he has the skill to play this role – because it is a role that can ‘suit’ his many talents.