THE OUTFIT is a basic flick about basic guys like Earl (Robert Duvall), who just got released from the joint. You think he'd be happy, right? Wrong, 'cause Earl's brother just got lit up by "The Outfit" for his part in a bank job. Seems like Earl was involved before he went in, so they're after him, too. After a foiled hit they think Earl's dead, until he robs their high stakes poker game and announces he'll hit them as long as they hit him.

From there it's a non-stop cavalcade of botched hits, Karen Black gettin' slapped around (not that that's a bad thing), and Duvall and buddy Cody (Joe Don Baker) against Robert Ryan's army of nameless, faceless, fashionless thugs.

All those that believe Quentin Tarantino has the ability to "recreate" 1970s cinema need to sit-down with this John Flynn (BESTSELLER) flick and remind themselves what it was all about in the first place.

Enjoyable without any of the trappings of the recent wave of so-called "70s retro-cinema." And I'm still trying to figure out what's keeping this from being available on DVD.