"Sometimes Your Battles Choose You" - OUT OF THE FURNACE

OUT OF THE FURNACE

2013 - 116 minutes - Crime/Drama/Thriller
Director: Scott Cooper
Country: United States
IMDB: 7.4
Metacritic: 64
RT: 52%

EpicEnthusiast's Score: 8/10

Watch this movie if you enjoy:

• character studies  

• stylistic films

• northeastern United States landscape

• Christian Bale and/or Woody Harrelson 

Avoid this movie if you dislike:

• violence

• slow-moving plots

• limited action

Scott Cooper's Out of the Furnace is a character-driven story centered around two brothers in Braddock, Pennsylvania. Russell Baze follows in his father's footsteps and works at the local mill in town. His younger brother Rodney is a soldier in the army, and returns home to seek a job when his service in Iraq is completed. During that search for work he goes missing, and forces Russell to decline insufficient law enforcement efforts and deliver justice himself. 

The story is driven by its characters as the characters are driven by their actors. Christian Bale, Casey Affleck, and Woody Harrelson lead a lush cast that blend fluidly and create a handful of very powerful scenes. Willem Dafoe, Forest Whitaker and Zoe Saldana are featured in supporting roles, but are all very meaningful in their own ways. The script that Cooper and Brad Ingelsby put forth is solid enough, but it's nothing special. Top-notch acting from everyone involved is ultimately what makes Out of the Furnace a compelling story. 

Christian Bale as Russell Baze

Bale plays the lead of Russell Baze, and conveys a subtle dominance throughout. Russell is soft-spoken and content on the surface, but has his fair share of troubles. A seemingly comfortable life turns for the worst when he drunkenly kills two people in a car accident, and gets sent to prison. His time inside is rough, but not nearly as rough as it will be when he gets out. He finds that his father has passed away, his girlfriend is now seeing the police chief of a town where everyone knows each other, and his brother has been traumatized by war. On top of all of that, it's rumored that the mill he's working at is going to be closing.

What Bale does best is balance the emotions of it all. He's still and collective when he can be, and firey and impassioned when he has to be. He controls the screen and makes it impossible to doubt that the movie is his. It's tough to compare this role to that of his as Batman in Christopher Nolan's trilogy, but it's right along side his leads in American Psycho, The Prestige and 3:10 to Yuma as one of the best of his career. (I've yet to see The Fighter, for which he won an academy award for best supporting actor)

Casey Affleck as Rodney Baze

Russell's younger brother Rodney is played by Casey Affleck, who I believe is one of the most underrated actors working today. (see: The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford) Perhaps he's a bit overshadowed by his brother Ben Affleck, but as he displayed in Out of the Furnace, he's immensely talented. Rodney is determined to find work when he gets back to Braddock, but is severely shaken up by his experiences overseas. He doesn't have any desire to work in the mill like his brother and father, and is ultimately lost. Affleck masterfully portrays a man changed by war who is simply looking for answers. He eventually takes up fighting as both a means of money, and a way to let off steam. He's quite convincing despite his lean frame, and gives off a real sense of anger, confusion and liveliness. Despite their differences, he meshes perfectly with Bale as his brother, and puts out a dynamite performance. 

"I have a problem with everyone"

Woody Harrelson is Harlan DeGroat in a role that reminded me of his lead in Oliver Stone's Natural Born Killers. DeGroat is a borderline-psychotic drug abuser that heads a fight club/drug cartel up in the Appalachian mountains near the New Jersey Border. He's the kind of guy that starts a fight for the hell of it, and won't hesitate to kill. I don't know what it is about Harrelson playing violent psychopaths, but it works. He dominates every scene he's in, and has you fearing that he's going to clock anyone he's talking to. It takes a special kind of actor to depict this type of monstrous character well, and although he was slightly over-the-top at times, it was a job well done.

The biggest flaw of Out of the Furnace comes from the plot and its structure. It has trouble transitioning smoothy from one sometimes emotionally draining scene to the next, and feels choppy throughout. It's not that the scenes weren't well done, but rather that their endings were occasionally abrupt, and it felt like events were being thrown up onto the screen in no particular order. They were in chronological order of course, but it seemed to me that the editing could have been sharper. Along with that, the plot contained a few minor, but noticeable inconsistencies. Certainly not any gaping holes, but a couple head-scratching moments, as well as a little disbelief. They didn't ruin the film by an means, but they definitely dragged it down a bit.

That being said, the strong acting and other redeeming qualities outweigh the above issues. Not only are the characters well developed, but they're captured wonderfully too. Cooper and cinematographer Masanobu Takayanagi do a splendid job of creating unique shots of their characters, and immersing the audience in the landscape. It's very artsy at times, but steers clear of pretentiousness. The pleasing aesthetics may have come partially from renowned producer Ridley Scott, who constantly directs beautiful films. (Leonardo DiCaprio was also a producer, and was originally set to play the Russell Baze.) It was very much a movie that got much of its identity from its setting, and Cooper and company used it to their advantage. The soundtrack was also well chosen, and very fitting to the area and storyline.

The filming location of Out of the Furnace - Braddock, Pa

Overall, Out of the Furnace is a supremely acted film that uses its characters to tell a powerful story. Bale, Affleck and Harrelson give memorable performances, and are supported by a worthy cast. Uneven editing and minor plot issues hold it back from greatness, but it's well worth watching. I'd put it right at a 7.5/10, but I round up because of those performances, and overall production quality.


-EE


As of December 9, 2013, Out of the Furnace is in theaters.