A class act.
Truly, that is what you need to know going into The Outfit from Focus Features. Written and directed by Graham Moore (The Imitation Game), this whodunnit thriller is a stylish declaration of all things chic. It is like reading a John Le Carre spy novel: thoughtful, meticulous, and full of surprises. It is also limited to a single location, making this film one for the ages.
All clothing says something. That’s a fact and cutter - because you don’t call him a tailor - Leonard Burling (Mark Rylance) knows it, making clothes for customers who come into his shop in Chicago in a post-WWII setting. He doesn’t care about anyone’s business; he’s here for the clothing and really doesn’t want to get involved in their lives. He wants to be left alone.
Unfortunately, whether he likes it or not, he finds himself wrapped up in a crime family’s push against Hoover’s FBI men. And what he does in response to their problems and their threats rocks this 1956-set gangster picture. Complete with scissors in hand, this cutter challenges their preconceived notions with moves that will floor you and it is all for the timeless clothes he puts on his customers.
Burling left Europe for Chicago and it is here, at his cutting and sewing table, where he works his magic for all sorts of people, including some Chicago gangsters, who refer to him as “English” and use his back room as a dropoff for messages to and from their crime family. This includes Roy (Simon Russell Beale), Richie (Dylan O’Brien), his spoiled son, Francis (Johnny Flynn), and Monk (Alan Mehdizadeh).
His assistant, Mable (a wonderfully complex Zoey Deutch), doesn’t want to follow in his footsteps and prefers to live a bit more dangerously, even if she knows Burling is a father-figure to her and wants to see her choose better. But the craft of making suits for his customers takes precedent over the boiling danger they are about to be engulfed in.
The pieces in this nail-biter are arranged carefully and co-writer Johnathan McClaine helps build the tension as each stitch is sewn into its overall design. The arresting set design from Gamma Jackson certainly adds to the atmosphere as another crime family, known as “The Outfit” comes into the picture, and with it a rat, causing all sorts of paranoia involving a cassette tape and the FBI.
What follows is a thriller of such a top-notch quality that it becomes hard to shake its overall themes as Burling finds himself having to outsmart these goodfellas from the safety of his cutting table. The film is put together in such a tailored fashion that it becomes hard not to marvel at just how well it is seamlessly put together, flexing with the fibers of the tension . . . even during a forced operation on the cutter’s table. There is no flaw in The Outfit and the performances match the talent behind the camera, creating a whodunnit-like thriller that feels effortless.
The Outfit is playing in theaters and is now streaming on Peacock. This one is not to be missed.
MPAA Rating: R.
Runtime: 105 mins
Director: Graham Moore
Writer: Graham Moore; Johnathan McClain
Cast: Mark Rylance; Zoey Deutch; John Gumley-Mason
Genre: Drama
Tagline: Everyone Has Something Up Their Sleeve.
Memorable Movie Quote: "I'm not a tailor, I'm a Cutter."
Distributor: Peacock
Official Site:
Release Date: Now streaming
DVD/Blu-ray Release Date:
Synopsis: A gripping and masterful thriller in which an expert tailor (Rylance) must outwit a dangerous group of mobsters in order to survive a fateful night.
