The Outfit

THE OUTFIT will never be considered a gangster classic worthy of standing alongside THE GODFATHER or THE UNTOUCHABLES, but it's worth watching just for fun.

If anyone has seen the 1992 made-for-video Dutch Schultz biopic HIT THE DUTCHMAN, you might recall that Legs Diamond spoke with an Irish accent, but in real-life Diamond was an American who never spoke with an accent. Josh Mosby plays Diamond just right. Also, the real-life Dutch Schultz looked more like the character that James Remar played in THE COTTON CLUB, rather than Lance Henriksen's portrayal. Finally, while Billy Drago was good as Frank Nitti in THE UNTOUCHABLES, he's not as well cast here as Lucky Luciano. While some people may have thought that Billy was Italian in real life, he's actually a Kentucky-born Native American, which explains his slightly darker skin. While the cover of the video shows Billy holding a Thompson submachine gun, he never actually uses a gun in this movie. Also, while the cover of the video lists him as one of the main stars, he actually has a very minor role limited to a few appearances.

I'm just a sucker for gangster movies, so that's why I own it.

Poorly made gangster movie about the supposed feud between "Dutch" Schultz and "Legs" Diamond. Silly script, Dreadful dialogue, amateur acting. The production values are not too bad, but it's flat and trite with every imaginable cliche.

The only other movie I've seen which uses slow downbeat jazz in ALL of the scenes is Bloodmatch 1991. And like this movie, there was slow jazz even in the fight scenes. This movies had more corn than the then illegal whiskey; and went on way... too... long.

I'll give this movie credit. For being a direct to video affair, it comes across like a far more important film. The acting is all over the place. John Mosby is the ladies man, "Legs Diamond", Lance Henriksen the explosive "Dutch Schultz", and Billy Drago plays "Lucky Luciano". The constant battles between "Legs" and "Dutch" are gradually wearing thin with "Lucky". Meanwhile, Martin Kove, is an F.B.I. Agent who infiltrates Diamond's organization. Basically the movie is not much more than one machine gun battle after another, as the two waring factions fight for whiskey running territory. There are a couple trollops thrown into the mix simply to add nudity. Not great, but better than you might expect. - MERK

Awful screenplay and the music was beyond bad. You have to feel really sorry for Lance Henriksen who is a great actor(did a marvelous job as Abraham Lincoln in THE DAY LINCOLN WAS SHOT). The main guy tried too hard to be Clint Eastwood