I saw 'The Outfit' a long time ago in my quest to see anything with Lance Henriksen in it, but it didn't leave much of an impression at that time. So now I've gone back to rewatch it and give it another chance. Let's just say it's not great and it isn't able to fully capture what it was going for. They just didn't have the money, above average story or skill to pull it off.
Two mobsters at the top of their game - Dutch Schultz (Henriksen) & Legs Diamond (Josh Mosby) - battle each other for bootlegging control in 1930's American while the FBI use an undercover agent (John Christian) inside Diamond's organization to take the both of them down permanently.
They got the vintage cars, the right type of clothing and there is certainly no shortage of Tommy guns. However the movie is never able to overcome it's low budget origins in the sense that it can provide the feeling you're watching something of the time period. The musical score is horrible and the story has no real depth to sustain interest.
If you're a Lance Henriksen fan, you get a ton of him. This isn't one of those movies that splashes his name on the movie box and then he shows up for five minutes. Angry, firing off Tommy guns, yelling so much that his voice becomes coarse and in one particular scene, he barely has any left. However the other two predominant cast members Martin Kove as an FBI boss and Billy Drago as Lucky Luciano rank slightly above extended cameos. Billy appears in three scenes (none of them action oriented).
Trying for authenticity, but failing is 'The Outfit' main problem. The acting itself is pretty solid and unfortunately this is the only title we got with Lance Henriksen and the late Billy Drago together. Fans of these men might give this a go otherwise there's gangster flicks showcasing a more entertaining, better storied look at the mob than this tale can provide (92 min version).
Two mobsters at the top of their game - Dutch Schultz (Henriksen) & Legs Diamond (Josh Mosby) - battle each other for bootlegging control in 1930's American while the FBI use an undercover agent (John Christian) inside Diamond's organization to take the both of them down permanently.
They got the vintage cars, the right type of clothing and there is certainly no shortage of Tommy guns. However the movie is never able to overcome it's low budget origins in the sense that it can provide the feeling you're watching something of the time period. The musical score is horrible and the story has no real depth to sustain interest.
If you're a Lance Henriksen fan, you get a ton of him. This isn't one of those movies that splashes his name on the movie box and then he shows up for five minutes. Angry, firing off Tommy guns, yelling so much that his voice becomes coarse and in one particular scene, he barely has any left. However the other two predominant cast members Martin Kove as an FBI boss and Billy Drago as Lucky Luciano rank slightly above extended cameos. Billy appears in three scenes (none of them action oriented).
Trying for authenticity, but failing is 'The Outfit' main problem. The acting itself is pretty solid and unfortunately this is the only title we got with Lance Henriksen and the late Billy Drago together. Fans of these men might give this a go otherwise there's gangster flicks showcasing a more entertaining, better storied look at the mob than this tale can provide (92 min version).