I enjoyed the Outfit, but what had the makings of greatness became a bit mediocre towards the end, with a maudlin action sequence and flashbacks that felt to me like pandering to an audience or to a studio. What works in the play-like film, shot entirely on a small, beautiful and slightly claustrophobic set, is the slow development of the characters and plot. We can tell soon enough that the movie is premised on revealing how the quiet, self-effacing protagonist played by Mark Rylance is much greater or stronger than he seems, and unraveling that and the rest of the plot is delicious, sublime. But for me the film lost its way when he became an action hero with a dark backstory. Too clever by half.
Review of The Outfit
