The Outfit (Amazon Prime UHD, HDR)

[SRW1000]

The Outfit (Amazon Prime UHD, HDR)

The Outfit stars Mark Rylance as a meek and unassuming tailor cutter who has immigrated from London to Chicago, opened his own shop, and has established a relationship with the local mob to act as an inconspicuous drop site for their underworld activities.  As happens in these movies, something goes wrong and the characters have to figure out what to do next.

This movie is equal parts mystery, mob drama, and thriller, with the story moving along quite briskly, and features some genuinely clever plotting and dialog.  There are twists and turns along the way, and while the audience may have a general sense of what's coming, there are enough surprises so that the ending isn't predictable.  The denouement comes quickly at the end, and is spelled out mostly through dialog.  I would imagine if one would go back to study it there would be a number of gaps that would be hard to fill in, but it's forgivable, since it's not the primary driver of the movie.

It plays out like an old-fashioned mystery stage play, with limited sets and actors, and that all fits well with the mood of the story.  To that end, the lighting is on the darker side, with murky, muted colors fitting, but it's never so dark as to obscure the action.  Instead it adds to the moments of tension throughout the movie.

The actors all do a fine job, with Rylance instilling his character with a genuine appreciation for the life of a skillful craftsman.  Some of the roles might be considered stereotypical, but they are completely in line with the movie, and feel believable. 

There's not too much to be said for the soundtrack, since this is a small-scale period piece, but there are some atmospheric cues, and some surprises that are all fine.  The musical score is a bright spot, moving from moody to jaunty as the moods change.

This is streaming for free right now on Amazon Prime, and it's a fun diversion.  Don't go in expecting anything deep or profound, but just sit back watch the story unfold, and try to guess what's going to happen next, and you should be entertained for an hour and 45 minutes. 

Scott

[David Vaughn]

Going into my queue. Thanks for the review Scott. 

[SRW1000]

Going into my queue. Thanks for the review Scott.

I liked it, but my wife liked it even more, so you'll have to let us know what both of you think of it.

Scott

[Paul Heroy]

Saw this a couple of months ago. We liked it a lot. It is the ultimate small set, filmed stage play, character study type film. And yes, some twists that don't go quite where I expected them to go given that the... (text below changed to white as a spoiler tag)


name of the movie and the secret organization sharing a name, which had me thinking Rylance's character himself was the one behind it all, and in many screenplays he would have been.

Rylance was superb.

[AVSCraig]

I have this on Blu-ray. Good little slow burn thriller.