The Outsider Review: 3 Ups & 7 Downs
Downs...
7. Jared Leto's Dull Lead Performance
Despite being an Oscar winner, it's fair to call Jared Leto a divisive performer, largely due to his widely-maligned performance as The Joker in Suicide Squad, and this film likely won't do much to change that perception.
Leto really feels like he's phoning it in here, delivering a flat, affect-free performance where he goes through the robotic motions without much hinting at what lies beneath the surface of his protagonist Nick Lowell, a captured American soldier who, after getting out of prison, joins a Yakuza crime family.
Leto's angelic looks and star power are clearly intended to make the story appeal to a wider audience, but considering that Michael Fassbender and Tom Hardy were originally in talks to take the part, Leto's contributions here feel woefully short of the mark.