Plot
When Rodney Baze mysteriously disappears and law enforcement fails to follow through, his older brother, Russell, takes matters into his own hands to find justice.
Release Year: 2013
Rating: 7.1/10 (570 voted)
Critic's Score: /100
Director: Scott Cooper
Stars: Christian Bale, Casey Affleck, Zoe Saldana
Storyline
Russell and his younger brother Rodney live in the economically-depressed Rust Belt, and have always dreamed of escaping and finding better lives. But when a cruel twist of fate lands Russell in
Writers: Brad Ingelsby, Scott Cooper
Cast: Woody Harrelson -
Harlan DeGroat
Dendrie Taylor -
DeGroat's Date
Carl Ciarfalio -
Man at Drive In
Nancy Mosser -
Woman at Drive In
Christian Bale -
Russell Baze
Casey Affleck -
Rodney Baze Jr.
Zoe Saldana -
Lena Taylor
Sam Shepard -
Gerald 'Red' Baze
Bingo O'Malley -
Rodney Baze Sr.
Tom Bower -
Dan Dugan
Willem Dafoe -
John Petty
Bobby Wolfe -
Dwight Van Dunk
Charles David Richards -
Chaplain
Forest Whitaker -
Chief Wesley Barnes
John W. Kleer -
Man at Trailer Park
Trivia: Scott Cooper rewrote the script and the character of Russell Baze specifically for Christian Bale even though the two had never met and Cooper didn't know whether the actor would take on the role or not. See more »
User Review
Author:
Rating: 6/10
There are great things to admire about filmmaker Scott Cooper, who made
an admirable breakthrough in 2009 when directed Jeff Bridges to an
Oscar win for Crazy Heart. Adapting the film from the novel by Thomas
Cobb, Cooper had a foundation to follow in bringing his story of Bad
Blake to the screen. In his long-awaited follow-up Out of the Furnace,
where he gathers an impressive cast that includes Christian Bale, Casey
Affleck, and Woody Harrelson, the co-writer and director lays it on
thick and slow, ultimately failing to sustain emotion to be carried
throughout his picture.
Cooper's latest tells the story of Russell Baze (played by Bale), a
hard-working man who cares for his ailing father and lives with his
beautiful girlfriend Lena (played by Zoe Saldana). When his war-veteran
brother Rodney (played by Affleck) gets involved with illegal street-
fighting and ultimately disappears, with no strong searching from
authorities, Russell takes matters into his own hands.
Out of the Furnace begins with such strong promise. Building a solid
foundation in character development, Cooper and co-writer Brad Inglesby
give Russell and Rodney authentic behaviors and a relationship that
feels believable. When dealing with the film's villain Harlan DeGroat,
played by the talented Woody Harrelson, the two scribes don't explore
enough avenues to have him become a three-dimensional character, and
not a blanket of evil caricatures that we've seen in movies before. The
film opens with Harlan watching a drive-in movie and unleashing his
fury on his date, and a bystander that tries to intervene. I tend to
appreciate some motivation for a character's actions. You can't just
make someone horrible just for the sake of your movie. Why is Harlan so
evil, and most of all, why is everyone so scared of this guy, even when
he's by himself?
Christian Bale internalizes most of his emotions, bringing them to the
brim of explosion. His Russell is damaged, losing so much of himself
throughout the narrative, from family members to his own dignity. It's
another great performance from the Oscar-winning Bale. Casey Affleck
proves to be one of the most talented actors working today, bringing
such raw rage to his broken soldier. He's the film's true highlight and
most deserving of any accolades the film may receive.
Regulated to one very intense and brilliantly constructed scene with
Bale, Zoe Saldana proves to have the goods to go beyond any of her
genre roles in "Avatar" and "Star Trek" if given the opportunity. Woody
Harrelson does his best with the information he's given. He strikes
fear into the viewer with just a look or a sneer, but with such little
understanding about what Harlan is about, it doesn't succeed in the way
it should have. Sam Shepard and Forest Whitaker are blips on the radar
but have no real sense of purpose to the narrative, though they are
serviceable.
Cooper also does a great job capturing this rural culture of a small
Pennsylvania town. Locals that work at the mill and later gather at the
bar to drink their night away feels authentic. Utilizing
Cinematographer Masanobu Takayanagi certainly helps as the talented DP
keeps our story close and intimate. Takayanagi captures the entire
rooms for the audience to gaze at. Intimate bedroom behavior is placed
into perspective when aligned with a shot of the room where a closet is
in sight with no doors and damp, dingy walls. The score by Dickon
Hinchliffe is the film's strongest technical aspect. The composer,
who's worked on Rampart and Winter's Bone, has a knack for these type
of films and elevating them to their true potential.
As the film continues to build, to what we believe will be an epic
finale of revenge, just becomes the most anti-climactic ending of the
year. While Cooper formulates a well-constructed set piece, and
composer Hinchliffe and DP Takayanagi are well-equipped for the
challenge, the script offers no interesting or payoff to the two-hour
investment the audience makes into the story. We are left just mildly
and unenthusiastically satisfied.
Overall, the film is simply atmospheric; showing the promise of Cooper
has a filmmaker if given stronger material to direct. Out of the
Furnace is a mildly impressive work but worth it's time at the movie
theater.
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(http://www.awardscircuit.com)
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