The Outsider
Netflix | Release Date (Streaming): March 9, 2018 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
30
METASCORE
Generally unfavorable reviews based on 12 Critic Reviews
Positive:
1
Mixed:
4
Negative:
7
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Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
63
Movie NationRoger MooreMar 11, 2018
Just far enough off the well-worn mob movie path to be worth a look, even if — like too much on Netflix — you feel the need to bail and see what else is available before it bleeds out. Read full review
50
Slant MagazineDerek SmithMar 7, 2018
The film is subsumed by the unshakable sense that Jared Leto is intended to make Martin Zandvliet's take on the yakuza underworld more palatable for American audiences. Read full review
49
IGNWilliam BibbianiMar 7, 2018
It takes extremely familiar plot points and plays them straight, adding nothing new except the premise - a white American joining the Yakuza - which ultimately has very little to do with how the story unfolds. The film might be a functional crime drama but it’s an incredibly unremarkable one. Read full review
42
The A.V. ClubMike D'AngeloMar 7, 2018
Asano and the rest of the Japanese cast provide baseline credibility, but they can’t generate excitement from this morass of clichés. Read full review
40
Los Angeles TimesNoel MurrayMar 8, 2018
The Outsider is a slick copy of multiple, much-better films and TV series. It's so well-polished it's practically featureless. Read full review
38
RogerEbert.comNick AllenMar 9, 2018
As the story bloats to two hours by mistaking itself for an epic, The Outsider falls into a pit of boredom somewhere between the white savior complex of Tom Cruise in “The Last Samurai” and the much slicker kills by Alain Delon in “Le Samourai.” Read full review
33
ConsequenceBlake GobleMar 11, 2018
It’s clichéd, distant, afraid to truly immerse itself in anything but long looks, but at least it looks good. And that’s that. Read full review
33
IndieWireDavid EhrlichMar 7, 2018
The more this film begs to be told from the inside out, the more Zandvliet shoots it from the outside in. It’s enough to make you wish he hadn’t shot it at all. Read full review
30
The Hollywood ReporterFrank ScheckMar 8, 2018
Merging standard gangster movie clichés of both the Japanese and American variety, The Outsider only manages to be ultra-violent and ultra-dull simultaneously. Read full review
25
The PlaylistChristian GallichioMar 9, 2018
Leto, with his whispery dialogue and complete lack of emotional range, fails to register on any level. While the film itself feels straight out of a Robert McKee seminar, as each twist and turn is telegraphed so blatantly, that it’s hard to see what Leto, who can be a good actor when he’s not too busy going all “method,” saw in it. Read full review
20
VarietyAndrew BarkerMar 8, 2018
Dull, flavorless, and fundamentally incurious, “The Outsider” is a clueless misfire, the cinematic equivalent of a study-abroad student showing off the kanji forearm tattoo whose meaning he never bothered to learn. Read full review
20
The GuardianCharles BramescoMar 7, 2018
It’s by no means impossible to carve a challenging, meaningful story out of difficult interchanges between the east and west. To return to Scorsese, consider Silence, a fine film about European men slowly realizing just how little they understand of Japan. But neither Zandvliet, Baldwin, nor Leto care to look beyond themselves. They’re worse than the simple gaijin, or the over-affectionate weeaboo – they’re tourists who think they own the place. Read full review
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