- The Outfit has plenty of twists and revelations, majority of which impressively manage to not only surprise, but also follow a logical through-line. All except the final twist in which the tape that everyone’s after throughout the film is revealed to be a fake, containing only Leonard’s mere musings on the craft of cutting — implying that Leonard somehow “set up” the events that unfolded that December night. This twist not only doesn’t make sense (which I’ve elaborated in the next point), but also makes the film feel gimmicky and too reliant on shocks to keep the narrative engaging, instead of showing a bit more restraint and allowing the revelations room to settle in the mind of the viewer.
Coming to the illogical nature of the final twist:
- I can understand Leonard’s reasoning behind posing as The Outfit and writing letters to the Boyles, essentially encouraging them to continue fighting with rival gangs and hopefully dying in the process, but I do not understand what he was trying to achieve by planting a fake tape with his narration on it, or what exactly did that have to do with the events of the film occurring the way they did.
- This twist solely raises questions and answers none, such as:
- What was Leonard’s plan if the La Fontaines didn’t ambush Richie and Francis while they were trying to listen to the tape? Did he know about the ambush? If yes, then what exactly did he do to ensure that the ambush took place?
- Was he going to leave the city the night the Boyles found the tape? What was his exit strategy for Mable, because surely he wouldn’t have left her behind, right?
- Are we to assume that Leonard (as The Outfit) informed the Boyles about the bug, hoping that Richie would confide in Mable before actually listening to the tape, and would also inform Mable where he’s going, so that Mable can then hopefully quickly rat out his location to the La Fontaines? This plan ultimately comes across as incredibly stupid as it depends on just way too many variables.
- The film wants us to believe that after Richie told Mable about having found “the bug”, Mable informed the La Fontaines about Richie and Francis’ location in order to set up the ambush. But, this doesn’t make sense because after receiving the tape from “The Outfit”, Richie didn’t stop to talk to Mable about this discovery on his way out of the store, let alone tell her where he is going with Francis. So how exactly did Mable help the La Fontaines ambush Richie and Francis?
- Why did Francis run towards Violet before trying to shoot her? Why didn’t he immediately shoot her after opening the door? Also, was Violet just HOPING that Francis would be stupid enough to not come out of the room blasting his gun?
The film unfortunately also has a few instances of coincidences and conveniences, like the lucky timing of some phone calls, Francis being able to clean up the blood stains of Richie's murder JUST BEFORE Roy's arrival, Francis conveniently arriving in the store with Mable JUST BEFORE Leonard is seemingly about to reveal the truth to Roy, and neither Roy nor Monk noticing Francis cocking his gun to Mable's head as a clear sign of threat to prevent Leonard from spilling the truth,
And the most egregious one being in the final sequence — when Francis LUCKILY survives the gunshots and regains consciousness (with enough life left in him for a fight) JUST AS Leonard starts to burn his store down. THE POSITIVES:
- The performances by everyone in the cast were good. Mark Rylance in particular was great at convincingly portraying a meek, mild-mannered, meticulous, solitary old man who gets pushed around and underestimated by everyone, as well as a scheming, manipulative, and dangerous man with a chip on his shoulder who’s extremely adept at maintaining a facade of innocence.
- Although Leonard's motivations weren’t explicitly stated, the film provides several interesting hints about his reasons for wanting to destroy the mobs, whether it be his tragic backstory, or his affectionate, protective nature towards Mable that’s borne out of their father-daughter dynamic. The motivations behind the actions of the rest of the characters also made sense, even if they weren’t exactly deep or original.
- The film is also technically brilliant, with sleek and classy period-appropriate costumes, and a dynamic set design that felt lived-in. Its proficient cinematography, and efficient, sharp, and often humorous dialogues prevent the film from feeling stagnant even though it takes place entirely in one location.
- I really liked how Leonard’s voice-overs, that are sprinkled throughout the movie, not only made sense for the craft of cutting but also worked for context of the narrative in which they were presented, as well as serving as metaphorical lessons for life in general.
- Even though the overall plot doesn’t make complete sense in retrospect, especially after some big revelations in the second half, the film still managed to keep me at the edge of my seat as I was watching it, thanks to its great pacing and effective buildup of suspense and tension during many pivotal sequences. If not intellectually satisfied, people who watch this film are at least going to be sufficiently entertained by its intriguing story, unique setting, and good performances. Due to these reasons, I think The Outfit is a decent one-time watch if you’re in the mood for a simple and engaging thriller.
RATING-: 5/10
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