Mark Rylance’s foundational performance almost is reason enough to recommend “The Outfit.”
The small-scale crime drama — in which Rylance stars as an English tailor now operating a shop in 1950s Chicago, where many of his regular clients are dangerous gangsters — benefits greatly from the actor.
Rylance, who is exceptional in his Academy Award-winning turn in Steven Spielberg’s 2015 historical drama, “Bridge of Spies,” sometimes is betrayed by roles in which perhaps no actor could thrive. (Watch him as a powerful and aloof tech-industry magnate in last year’s “Don’t Look Up” for a recent example.)
However, “The Outfit” is, if you’ll forgive the pun, well-suited to him, Rylance turning in subtle work that is consistently interesting.
Unfortunately, his performance is not quite reason enough to advocate for “The Outfit,” the directorial debut from Graham Moore, the writer of another excellent historical film, 2014’s “The Imitation Game.”
Co-written by Moore and Johnathan McClain, “The Outfit” doesn’t quite come together like a perfectly tailored three-piece suit — despite the early promise that it will do just that.
We are introduced to Rylance’s Leonard Burling — who learned his craft on London’s famed Savile Row before leaving for the United States after losing his shop in World War II — talking to us about all the components that come together to make a finely tailored suit. We may see but a few steps in its construction; he counts 228.
We watch him work, the gentleman being aided only by Mable Sean (Zoey Deutch), the young woman who sits at the business’ front desk and brings him a cup of a hot beverage.
Mable dreams of being elsewhere and is building a collection of snow globes of various cities around the world to which she hopes to escape, London being the most recent.
Into the store come men wearing suits — men who carry guns. They also carry envelopes, each of which, we assume, contains cash. The envelopes are dropped in a box in the shop’s backroom and undoubtedly are to be picked up and brought to someone higher in the organized-crime food chain than they are
These men come and go without making conversation with Leonard. The exception is Richie Boyle (Dylan O’Brien of “The Maze Runner” franchise and “Teen Wolf”).
“Knock knock,” he says. “How’s business, English?”
Richie clearly is a talker, the young man also asking Leonard if he’s making a suit for his “pops,” whom we will come to know as Boyle family crime boss Roy Boyle (Simon Russell Beale, “The Death of Stalin”).
Keeping Richie focused on the task as henchman appears to be the job of his less-talkative pal Francis (Johnny Flynn, “Emma”). Although not a member by blood, Francis has taken a few “marbles” while working for the family.
When Mable expresses concern about the type men for whom Leonard makes suits, he counters that if he did business only with “angels,” there wouldn’t be much business at all. He, in turn, worries about glances exchanged between Mable and Richie. Each half of this pseudo-father-daughter dynamic assures the other he or she has no reason to worry.
That’s far from the truth, however, as one night at the shop will prove. Tensions are high within the Boyle organization because there is concern a mole exists within the organization, and soon a gun is fired within the normally quiet space of the shop. This sets off a sequence of events likely to prove to be deadly for one or more people, possibly including Leonard and Mable.
Appealingly, “The Outfit” — the title of which has a couple of meanings — has the feeling of a stage work. Its players come and go, but we, like Leonard, never leave the shop.
And while it sews together a fairly simple story, the more characters Graham puts in the frame at one time. the more the director’s grip over the proceedings loosens. One crucial crowded scene, in particular, needed better execution than it got.
The writing is a mixed bag, too. At one point, when the pieces are just starting to fall into place, Moore and McClain (“Live and Maddie”) get a little too cute with Leonard’s dialogue with one of the criminals. We don’t want to say too much about it, but even at this early juncture what he is saying feels out of character.
Deutch (“Set It Up,” “Zombieland: Double Tap”) adds a bit to the affair, but it is largely up to Rylance to carry “The Outfit.” And while it is again a pleasure to watch him work, he overdoes it just a bit in spots trying to make the character work.
“The Outfit” has plenty going for it, especially for anyone interested in a night at the movies not involving a certain caped crusader — or a three-hour runtime.
It’s just too bad it has a few too many loose threads to recommend.
———
‘THE OUTFIT’
2 stars (out of 4)
MPAA rating: R (for some bloody violence, and language throughout)
Running time: 1:45
Where to watch: In theaters Friday
———
