The Outsider

UK Release Date. 9 March 2018
Certification. 18
Running Time. 2 hours 
Director. Martin Zandvliet
Cast. Tadanobu Asano, Emile Hirsch, Shioli Kutsuna, Jared Leto, Kippei Shîna.
Rating. 44%

Review.

Martin Zandvliet's The Outsider is a fairly formulaic 'rising through the ranks' gangster story. Set in 1950s Japan, with the American/Italian/East End criminals [delete as appropriate] replaced by the infamous crime syndicate, the Yakuza. That's the twist.

The Outsider is pedestrian, almost sedentary. A pretense of style masks a storyline that is aimless, arduous and ultimately, dull.

This is not aided by the fact that the main character, Nick (Jared Leto) is among the least engaging principal characters I've encountered since starting the Bravo Alfredo blog. There is restrained, there is dispassionate, and then there is undemonstrative. Jared Leto barely changes his facial expression throughout the entire film.