Leonard (Mark Rylance), the proprietor of the finest bespoke suiting shop in 1956 Chicago, wants to make one thing very clear: he’s not a tailor, he’s a cutter. “Anyone with a needle and thread can call themselves a tailor,” he sniffs. No, Leonard trained for years on legendary Savile Row in London learning the art of cutting suits from fine cloth, and he wields his trusty old shears with the precision and confidence that comes from decades dedicated to his craft.
“The Outfit,” written by Johnathan McClain and Graham Moore, is the directorial debut of Moore, who won the adapted screenplay Oscar for “The Imitation Game.” It takes place entirely within the confines of Leonard’s shop, a cozy respite from the freezing, seemingly bullet-riddled Chicago streets. But the gang warfare creeps beyond the threshold of L. Burling Bespoke, and the result is a twisty, blood-soaked chamber piece, a retro gangster noir as meticulously crafted as a fine custom suit.
An immigrant from England, Leonard claims that he’s come to Chicago to ply his trade because he was under attack—from blue jeans. He’s slipped into this world of of Al Capone wannabes by submitting to their demands: there’s a secret letterbox in the back of his shop where the Irish mob sends and receives messages. It doesn’t arouse suspicion for men to come and go frequently from the suit shop, and gang leader Roy Boyle (Simon Russell Beale) has a taste for nice clothing and Leonard’s refined English manner: tea and biscuits and Oscar Wilde quotes.
