Film Review: Out of the Furnace

Director: Scott Cooper

The second film from the young director Scott Cooper, his first was Crazy Heart starring Jeff Bridges and Maggie Gyllenhaal. The parallels between the films small town roots are easily apparent even if Out of the Furnace delves much further into the murky criminal underworld in Pennsylvania rather than the country music world of the South-West.

Russell (Bale) is a hard working employee at the North Braddock steel mill that is being threatened with closure, his brother Rodney (Affleck) is having a hard time adjusting to the quiet life in a small town after serving four tours in Iraq with the US Army. After Rodney loans money from Petty (Willem Dafoe) he decides to start bare knuckle boxing to pay his debt but has a hard time taking instructions on taking a dive which lands him in more trouble with sadistic drug dealer Harlan DeGroat (Woody Harrelson).

Russell (Christian Bale) and Rodney (Casey Affleck)

The new vogue in Hollywood film making seems to be taking the criminal underworld's from the big cities of New York and Los Angeles then transporting them out into the small towns now. Winters Bone being easily one of the most successful adaptations on this theme with Out of the Furnace lacking with a poor script and rather predictable plot. The film plays out as almost a homage to the psychological scars of war we see in The Deer Hunter with not only the plot but the 1970's feel that encompasses the action.

Christian Bale produces a strong performance as the protagonist who always does right by everyone until he himself is crossed with Casey Affleck once again looking like a product of the 70s (akin to his role in Aint Them Bodies Saints). Unfortunately its Harrelson who is less than impressive as the supposedly menacing DeGroat, the drugs kingpin doesn't genuinely make you associate a sense of dread and fear whenever he's on screen. His actions portray a sadistic man but his body language just doesn't pull it off quite like you'd expect.

2/4 Superb cast let down by a lackluster script.