The Outfit

Ex-con Earl Macklin returns to a world he deliberately left behind, a world that has long since written him off. But when his brother is murdered by a criminal organization, he teams up with an old associate and sets out on a relentless campaign of revenge.

The film avoids everyday psychological explanations, focusing instead on the inexorable mechanics of vengeance as it drives forward with the force of a runaway locomotive. Robert Duvall portrays a man who no longer believes in the future, only in the ruthless logic of consequence and the unforgiving immediacy of the present. His performance is cool, restrained, and entirely free of sentimentality.