The Outfit review

[Westside Steve]

The Outfit

Focus

R.         106 min

I do love movies about gangsters, Film Noir and period pieces  set in  the late forties or early fifties, THE OUTFIT checked all three of those boxes and did so without many of the clichés, or even expected plot devices of the genre. I don't suppose there's much use for a spoiler alert because at the end of the day I don't think anybody really knew what was going on to begin with.

Once a well-respected cutter in London's fabulous Savile Row Leonard (Mark Ryland) now owns a shop and a rough corner of Chicago. A cutter, he explains, is not a tailor but rather someone higher in the clothes making hierarchy. His clients are members of the mob mostly because in this part of town they are the only ones who can afford find clothing. Beyond a professional relationship he also takes a See No Evil Hear No Evil attitude and allows the mugs to use his store as a drop-off and pick-up point for envelopes full of money. Well, probably full of money. There will be also an occasional parcel with an odd symbol that will turn out to be a tape, or recording meant to incriminate some members of the Boyle  mob or their rivals, the La Fontains.  We are never exactly sure what the differences are between the two groups or exactly  who stand to be hurt, though it doesn't really matter. What matters is the old man  Boyle's son Richie (Dylan O'Brien) the heir to the criminal empire, doesn't really seem up to the job. His overseer is the boss's right-hand man Francis (Johnny Flynn)who has aspirations of moving up the ladder himself.  One of the reasons Richie is suspected of being a loose cannon is his relationship with Mable Leonard's shop assistant and daughter figure played by Zoey Deutsch who longs to seek excitement in other parts of the world far  from this run-down corner of Chicago.  Often confusing but always intriguing the story crawls along without really giving a real idea who the good guys the bad guys or the rats might be. Or more importantly who Leonard really is, and was. Though expenses were kept to a minimum by a small scope of the office the back room and the side room the film still looks great in a dark and subdued way.  And as always top notch acting is not something you can  purchase, like extravagant sets and special effects. Without giving away the ending intrigue and uncertainty certainly rule the climax but in a positive way.  Just be prepared for something a little bit out of the ordinary.

B-

WSS