Summary
- Leonard’s dark past drives him to deceive the mobsters at his tailor shop, ultimately leading to a dramatic ending in
The Outfit
. - The film’s ending reveals a cycle of violence and redemption for Leonard, as he burns down his shop to start anew after a tragic past.
- Leonard’s dedication to his craft as a cutter showcases his desire to distance himself from his criminal past in
The Outfit
.
The Outfit‘s ending brings the small-scale crime thriller to an unexpected ending that reveals all the secrets of the story. Mark Rylance stars as British expatriate and bespoke cutter Leonard Burling, commonly referred to as “English” by the mobsters who frequent his Chicago tailor shop. Leonard is passionate about his trade and seemingly uninterested in his shady patrons’ business until his own dark past reveals a hidden motive. This is revealed in The Outfit‘s ending, which presents the entire movie in a new light.
The Outfit is set entirely at Leonard’s shop, the action kicks off when two mobsters from Roy Boyle’s crime family, Francis and Richie, take refuge on the premises following a run-in with the rival La Fontaine organization. While Leonard is accustomed to Francis and Richie using his shop as a location for criminal correspondence, he is suddenly required to utilize his craftsmanship in sinister forms of application. The Outfit‘s historically-inspired story ends with Leonard burning down the shop, intending to start afresh, but it seems even in his survival, his past will continue to loom over him.
The Outfit
is available to stream on Starz.
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Leonard’s Motives Explained: Was It All Planned From The Start?
Leonard’s Motives Were Fueled By Revenge And Redemption
The Outfit’s title is a reference to Leonard’s creations: the gray suit that is revealed to be a suit he’s designed for himself to wear into his new life; and the letters written by Leonard, pretending to be on behalf of “The Outfit,” a crime syndicate founded by Al Capone. Leonard’s formulation of the correspondence indicates an intention to deceive and derail his customers from the beginning. Leonard wants to bring down the Boyle crew, as he moved to Chicago to pursue a fresh start, away from the organized crime that led to the death of his wife and daughter.
Loneard’s troubled past and being unintentionally implicated in the Boyle crew’s operations certainly provide considerable incentives for Leonard to deceive them, and it plays out tautly through The Outfit‘s small but intense cast of characters. However, at various points throughout the film, Leonard seems to improvise his plan as events unfold: he could not have predicted that Francis would kill Richie, and his decision to hide the tape — which he knows to be fake — seems to be a response to Francis and Richie’s anxiety. Like the unfinished suit he keeps returning to, Leonard’s plan is being continually altered.
Despite Leonard’s opposition to organized crime, his letters are more directly in response to his realization that Mable is the rat, utilizing a relationship with Richie to inform the FBI of the crew’s operations. Mable is at the center of Leonard’s motives: he devises his plan to help her, and his confession to Richie is amusing but perhaps a genuine attempt to be considered as the informant, rather than Mable.
The Outfit‘s ending finds Mable helping Leonard dismantle the crew, and his decision to not admit Francis’ betrayal to Roy seems to suggest this was his intention. Even in its explicit revelation, Leonard’s plan is abundant with loose threads.
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Why Leonard Reveals His Tattoos And His Past To Francis
Leonard’s Tattoos Reveal A Past He Can’t Escape
By the end of The Outfit, Leonard explains the reality of his past in an appeal to the vengeful Francis, revealing the tattoos that have been hidden beneath his sleeves throughout the film. Leonard explains that the fire that killed his family was not an accident, but an act by the criminal organization of which he had previously been a ruthless enforcer. Leonard was disillusioned by a particular order he was given and decided to leave the criminal life behind and pursue a trade instead.
His tattoos are a permanent sign of his past, proving he is no longer intending to deceive Francis, but rather appeal to his humanity – while also flashing them as danger signs, warning Francis that there is more to him than meets the eye. Unmoved by his plea, Francis unsuccessfully lunges at Leonard with his knife only to be stabbed by Leonard’s fabric scissors. The revelation of his tattoos is a gesture to the similar lives the pair have experienced, Leonard’s attempt to escape the world of crime, and his suggestion that Francis should do the same.
That being said, The Outfit ending revealed a much more tragic conclusion for Leonard’s overall story. The gangster movie ends with Leonard back where he started: complicit in the violence with the utensil of his craft now the weapon of his crime. As Francis is dying, Leonard kneels over him, prepared to brutally stab him a second time. In this moment, Leonard seems inescapably violent, and his former self is truly present once more.
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The Significance Of Leonard’s Request To Be Called A Cutter, Not A Tailor
Leonard Showcases Dedication And Patience In His Craft
The Outfit ending explains that Leonard’s insistence on the correct description of his profession represents his dedication to distancing himself from his time in organized crime. As he explains, tailoring involves altering clothes, which is simple in many cases. He, however, has trained for a considerable period to be a cutter, able to create bespoke suits out of material. Leonard desires recognition of the time and skill required to learn and practice his trade. His occupation is not simply a deviation or distraction from his past; it is his passion and his pride.
Despite Leonard’s dedication to his trade, The Outfit suggests his past is inescapable. Realizing his project has been ruined by some of Richie’s blood getting onto the jacket sleeve, Leonard resorts to replacing the stained sleeve and starting over. However, as Leonard wears the finished suit, Francis’ wayward shot hits him in the sleeve. Leonard’s alterations seem consistently futile, and his suit is recurrently ruined by acts of violence. Leonard manages to leave the mob, but the traumas of his past continue to cruelly manifest, even in the docile trade of cutting and tailoring.
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Why Leonard Burns Down The Shop In The Outfit’s Ending
The Burning Of The Shop Is A Full-Circle Moment For Leonard
The single setting for the movie makes The Outfit‘s ending of the shop burning more impactful. Leonard setting fire to his shop seems like a typical act of destroying evidence, but this is incongruous with his decision to record the events of the evening and encourage Mable to send the tape to her FBI contact. Furthermore, Leonard’s actions throughout the evening were essentially all provoked. While he can still be convicted for killing Francis, he starts the fire before this even happens, with Francis presumed dead on the floor.
Leonard ultimately burns down the shop to remove his sense of belonging and force himself to start anew. The burning shop is a recreation of the fire-related tragedy that provoked his relocation to Chicago. Leonard starts a new life after the first fire and, at The Outfit’s ending, he starts a second fire to begin another new life. It all comes full circle in a way for Leonard, which is one reason why the ending of The Outfit came across so brilliantly.
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What Does The Outfit’s Ending Narration Mean?
Leonard Foreshadows His True Motives With His Narration
Leonard’s explanation of making a suit is a prominent feature at the start and end. While this narration is revealed to be the audio of the decoy tape that Leonard created, it provides a commentary on Leonard’s next steps. Describing the difficulty in the final steps of making a suit, Leonard explains:
“it’s not perfect, you have to make your peace with that. How? Well, you sit at your board, you lay out your tools, and you start again.”
The narration indicates Leonard’s acceptance of moving on, his reconciliation with an imperfect sense of justice, and an enduring dedication to his craft. Like Christopher Nolan’s The Prestige, the narration at the beginning of the movie takes on a new context and makes more sense at the end.
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The Outfit’s Ending Was Inspired By The Director’s Family
The Relationship Between A Dedicated Professional And A Dangerous Criminal Came From Real-Life
Graham Moore has written movies and novels, but The Outfit felt personal enough that he decided to make it his feature directorial debut. According to Moore, The Outfit was inspired by his own family, namely his grandfather. His grandfather was a doctor with his own medical practice, and one of his patients was none other than the infamous mobster Jerry Catena of the Genovese crime family.
In an interview with TheWrap, Graham Moore reveals that the story for The Outfit came from his own fascination regarding the relationship between his grandfather and Catena. Moore recounted that his grandmother wasn’t fond of the doctor treating Cantena, but Moore’s gentle grandfather continued to treat him, remarking that he had been nothing but a gentleman to him. Moore stated:
“So I was always, since I was a little kid, fascinated by imagining what the conversations between a man as gentle as my grandfather and a vicious killer must have been. What did they talk about when the doors were closed?”
The Outfit
The Outfit is a 2022 crime drama directed by Graham Moore. Set in 1950s Chicago, The Outfit centers on Leonard Burling, an English tailor whose primary customers are gangsters that run the neighborhood. Mark Rylance stars as Leonard, alongside Zoey Deutch, Dylan O’Brien, and Johnny Flynn. Graham Moore wrote the film’s script with Jonathan McClain.
- Release Date
- March 18, 2022
- Director
- Graham Moore
- Cast
- Zoey Deutch , Nikki Amuka-Bird , Mark Rylance , Alan Mehdizadeh , Johnny Flynn , Dylan O’Brien , Simon Russell Beale
- Runtime
- 105 minutes
- Writers
- Jonathan McClain , Graham Moore
- Studio(s)
- Focus Features , Universal Pictures
This story originally appeared on Screenrant
