The Outfit Ending Explained: The Outfit, Graham Moore’s first feature-length directorial effort, is a charming criminal drama that harkens back to the classic gangster tales of literature and film. The ancient English tailor, or cutter, as he insists, and his shop, where a mafia family seeks refuge during a tensely long night, is at the center of this story.
Similar to the protagonist’s artwork, the movie is also painstakingly made, with a slow yet engaging pacing and a camera that is always inside the shop (just a few sequences show the shop from the outside), heightening the suspense. Overall, “The Outfit” is a fantastic film to watch and is highly recommended to anyone who is interested in the subject.
‘The Outfit’ Plot Summary
In 1956, Leonard Burling worked as a cutter in a clothing store in Chicago, creating tailored suits and outfits for his wealthy customers. Leonard, who has mastered fabric and is incredibly proud of his work, views his employment as nearly a vocation.
A young receptionist named Mable Shaun, whom the man opinions as his daughter, assists him around the store. However, Mable is not too fond of this because she wants to succeed without much help and thinks of moving from Chicago to a better city like Paris.
Neighborhood gang members use a little letterbox installed in the clothing store to communicate with one another about business deals. Thus there is a personal aspect to their enterprise. Since Roy Boyle, the boss of the neighborhood’s most powerful gang, had been Leonard’s first client when he arrived in town, he was already accustomed to this situation. Richie, Roy’s son, and Francis, his closest lieutenant, frequently stop by the store for business and their covert purposes.
Who Is This ‘Rat’ In The Boyle Family?
Leonard, per Francis’ orders, has stitched Richie’s wounds, and as Richie’s condition improves, the two men talk. After realizing they exist, the seasoned cutter chooses to take advantage of Richie’s concerns regarding Francis. He metaphorically pushes all the right buttons by reminding Richie that Francis is an outsider, not a family member.
Leonard opens the door for Francis when the doorbell rings to signal his return and claims Richie has been implying that Francis is the rat, maybe due to a blood loss psychosis. Francis becomes very suspicious as a result, and when they open the suitcase and discover it is empty, their mutual mistrust of one another prevents them from even considering Leonard. When Richie fires his gun at Francis, missing him, tempers flare, and words start flying. Francis then kills Richie in self-defense.
The murderer intimidates Leonard into lying, and they conceal Richie’s body inside a chest as Roy, the family’s leader, arrives at the business (he had been called to the shop earlier by Francis). When Roy enters the backroom, he learns that his son had gone in search of him and had even brought the cassette with him.
As a result, Roy sends Francis to look for Richie, leaving the cutter and him alone in the store (except for his burly bodyguard, who follows him everywhere). Roy explains to the man that the Boyles had been attempting to join The Outfit, a gangland network established by Al Capone that connected all the hottest criminal families and gangs and protected its members.
The Boyles were alerted about the FBI installed a bug on them by The Outfit, who finally got in touch with them and sent them envelopes bearing their distinctive emblem. The gangster then adds that he saw his son’s coat hanging in a room corner and didn’t think Richie had gone seeking him.
Mable enters the store with Francis holding her prisoner just as he begins questioning the cutter. Leonard astutely assesses the scenario and claims that Richie had left the business claiming he meant to kill the head of the LaFontaine family because he was angry and envious that Francis had killed four opponents while he could not.
Francis claims that Richie had been Mable’s lover and fabricates the bloodstains on her carpet to imply that he had stopped at her house on his way to the LaFontaines after leaving the business.
Who Is Leonard Burling—Just A Clever Tailor Or Something More Sinister?
Before any “rat” is even mentioned in the plot of “The Outfit,” the question is: Who is Leonard really, and why has he left London? When Mable asks him early on why he chose to live in Chicago rather than anywhere else, the elderly man replies that he feels at home there. However, Leonard seems to be entirely in control of any circumstance he finds himself in on this exciting night.
He uses his seasoned sense of calm and serenity to set Richie and Francis against one another, quiet the hostile interrogations of his oldest client, and then take advantage of the opportunity to have gotten a phone call. By stating that Francis would take over the Boyle organization when Roy and his men have left the area, he persuades Francis to turn on his employer and allow Mable to tell the rival gang where he is.
Over the phone, Mable tells the men that Madame LaFontaine wants to strike a deal and is prepared to pay money in exchange for the tape that Leonard had originally sewed into Richie’s coat but has since removed. As soon as the rival gang members arrive, Francis, hides inside a room with a different strategy in mind.
He wants Mable to give him the all-clear as soon as the LaFontaines hand over the cash, at which point he will shoot them and lead the Boyles into The Outfit. But things unfold precisely the opposite way; LaFontaine shows up there and delivers the bag of cash, but Leonard pretends verbally that the gang hasn’t brought any money while letting them know where Francis is hiding with hand signals. The LaFontaine bodyguards take their positions, and Francis also enters the room, pointing his gun at the opposing leader as the other two bodyguards do the same.
‘The Outfit’ Ending Explained: Does Leonard Survive? What Was His Purpose In Bringing The Boyles Down?
Leonard gently puts on his clothes and prepares to leave the store when Mable goes. He had earlier related the horrific story of how his wife and daughter had perished in burns when his London shop and home caught fire, but it now appears that the story was not entirely genuine.
In any case, he has prior expertise with fire and continues to perform the same thing by igniting the clothing in the store. But just then, a hurt Francis wakes up again and tries to fight the cutter. Leonard now discusses his prior past in London as a gang enforcer, which is remarkably comparable to Francis’ existence, in his concluding disclosure.
He confesses that everything went wrong on the job and that he had to hide in Savile Row, where he learned to sew and started a family while rolling up his sleeves and displaying his gang tattoos. He was eventually picked up by the gang responsible for setting fire to his house/cum-shop.
The man pushes the wounded Francis aside and uses his trusted pair of shears to stab him. He then lights the entire store on fire before exiting, prepared to move out of Chicago and start a new life elsewhere.
Leonard said nothing against the Boyles. Instead, he had always been treated well by the gang family. Leonard, however, was well aware of the violent darkness that lurked beneath such politeness and might emerge whenever it was convenient for them because of his age and experience.
He refused to allow such brutality to steal Mable from him because he had already lost his daughter. As the audience is compelled to alternate between the expected and the unexpected, this conclusion is merely a perfect conclusion to a whole craft that keeps one tense and thrilled to the end. In addition to all of these factors, “The Outfit” is a wholly fulfilling and delightful criminal thriller thanks to solid acting performances and a tone-setting overall director.
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