Christian Bale comes home from a jail term to find his father has died, his girlfriend has left him and his brother in serious trouble. Out of the Furnace review after the jump.
Director Scott Cooper did brilliantly with his debut film Crazy Heart, with the film’s star even landing an Oscar for Best Actor. Now, he returns with a darker and more violent affair.
Out of the Furnace sees a family in small-town USA fighting to get by. Russell Baze (Christian Bale) is a no-nonsense guy who is following on in his father’s footsteps by working in the mill. His younger brother Rodney (Casey Affleck) is a former soldier who has seen horrible things at war. He soon builds up a debt with a local bar-owner (Willem Dafoe) and to try and pay back what he owes, he takes up fighting for money.
The fighting for small amounts soon takes its toll on Rodney and he pleads for a bigger fight that pays more. They make their way to where some very rough rednecks live and they realise they are in way over their heads when they upset the leader Harlan (Woody Harrelson).
The film takes a little time to get going, but once it does, it becomes addictive viewing. With actors like Affleck, Dafoe, Forrest Whittaker, Zoe Saldana and Sam Shepherd all playing roles, it would normally be hard to pick out a performance that stands out, but two performances do. Woody Harrelson plays Harlan with such brutality, you will forget about everything he has been on before. Harlan is a nasty piece of work and we get to see what kind of a man he is in the first scene, as he tries to choke a woman with a hotdog sausage before beating a man half to death.
The other performance is down to Bale. It goes without saying that Christian Bale is one of the most talented actors on the planet. His performance as Russell is not as animated as his Oscar winning turn in The Fighter, but it’s no less impressive.
Another shout out needs to go to both the cinematographer and Eddie Veder of Pearl Jam fame for the soundtrack along with Dickon Hinchcliffe who does a brilliant job with the score.
Overall Thoughts:
Out of the Furnace is a powerful and sometimes brutal film. It may take a while to get going but you will forgive that thanks to Bale’s and Harrelson’s turns.
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