Movies To Watch If You Enjoyed The Outfit
Graham Moore, the writer of 2014's "The Imitation Game," has made his feature directorial debut with "The Outfit," a new movie starring Mark Rylance as a quiet, unassuming tailor in 1950s Chicago who does his best to mind his own business. When it turns out his shop is being used as a dead drop for mobsters, things take a turn for the worst. Although "The Outfit" is not a perfect film, it's refreshing to see a thriller with a cast this strong at a mid-tier budget, especially on the big screen. For a while, it felt like the days for this sort of film were numbered, but "The Outfit" has arrived to buck the trend.
The film itself is a tight, locked-door sort of mystery, with the story turning in on itself with the regularity of an Agatha Christie novel. It's the kind of thing you'd almost expect to see adapted from a stage play, and it's carried by the charisma and presence of its lead, Mark Rylance. It's no wonder: Rylance feels relatively new to Hollywood, almost like he came out of nowhere as a terrific character actor, but his work on the London stage has prepared him for his current position as one of the most solid film actors working today. Everything he does is infused with an exciting energy, and every choice he makes, no matter how understated, seems tailor-made for film.
For those who watched "The Outfit" and are looking for movies that feel spiritually similar, we've assembled a list of films to check out.
Deathtrap
Superstar director Sidney Lumet released a film called "Deathtrap" in 1982 based on the play of the same name. It stars Michael Caine and Christopher Reeve in delicious turns as heroes, villains, and all points in between. The film begins with Michael Caine's award-winning playwright out of ideas and harboring a desire to steal a manuscript from one of his students, played by Reeve. When the student arrives at the house, hoping to get the famed writer to take a look at the only copy of his work, Cain hatches a plot to kill him and take it for himself. The film winds like a labyrinth through each movement, changing the stakes every ten or twenty minutes. It moves with the precision of a Swiss watch until the very last scene. Some might argue you could turn the film off just before the credits roll, but in my view, the movie isn't irreparably harmed by its ending.
If you like the pacing of "The Outfit" and love the ever-changing nature and loyalties of the characters, "Deathtrap" is a perfect companion. It's highly unpredictable, and Caine and Reeve light up the screen.
Rope
During the course of "The Outfit," there are scenes that feature a body hidden in a trunk that are incredibly reminiscent of Alfred Hitchcock's 1948 film, "Rope." For some, "Rope" is dismissed as nothing more than a failed experiment of Hitchcock's (the entire movie is meant to appear as if it was captured in one long, unbroken take), but I think that assessment fails to regard what "Rope" does incredibly well. It's one of his masterpieces and such a brilliant technical exercise (and Hitchcock's first color film!) that anyone who dismisses it might not be giving it a fair shake. "Rope," which is also based on a play, takes its cues from the real-life Leopold and Loeb murders. Two college students (John Dall and Farley Granger) commit a murder as an intellectual exercise to see if they can get away with it. They kill one of their college peers and hide his body in the window seat of their apartment, then proceed to host a party of all of his friends and family as they serve food from his makeshift grave. When their old professor (James Stewart) arrives, he suspects something is up and unravels the sinister plot that's unfolded before he got there.
Like "The Outfit," "Rope" allows terrific actors to take center stage and let the tension of a murder plot burn slowly, locked in one location.
Road to Perdition
"The Outfit" takes place in the storied history of Chicago's Irish mobs, and that history permeates every moment of the film, hanging over it like a shadow and then entering in the back door, darkening everything. For those who want to visit more of the history of this world, there is no better place than Sam Mendes' adaptation of "Road to Perdition" from 2002.
The film stars Tom Hanks, Paul Newman, Jude Law, and Daniel Craig in an utterly riveting and preposterously well-acted foray into the Irish mob of Prohibition-era Chicago. Although it takes place a couple of decades prior to "The Outfit," the mob elements feel similar enough to make this an easy recommendation for curious filmgoers.
Bridge of Spies
For those interested in the sheer magnetism of Mark Rylance as an actor after seeing "The Outfit," the best place to turn would be 2015's "Bridge of Spies." Written by the Coen Brothers and directed by Steven Spielberg, "Bridge of Spies" contains excellent work from actors like Tom Hanks and Alan Alda, but also makes plenty of room for Rylance as Rudolf Abel, a Russian spy captured in the United States. Hanks takes it upon himself to defend Abel and then negotiate his release in a prisoner swap behind the Iron Curtain.
It's a taut film and one of Spielberg's underrated masterpieces. It alternates between being funny and tense, and its Cold War setting provides an effective backdrop for the political maneuvering between rival nations. Although it covers a different scale of events than "The Outfit," both play out at relatively the same era of the timeline, offering a window to the United States of the time.
More than anything, though, it's a testament to the quiet mastery Mark Rylance brings to every part he plays. He's one of the most gifted character actors of our time, and, like "The Outfit," "Bridge of Spies" is a perfect vehicle for him.
You can stream all of these movies on your platform of choice for a fee. "The Outfit" is currently in theaters.