Out of the Furnace: Movie Review
Scott Cooper, who did a great job with his 2009 directorial debut, “Crazy Heart”, has managed to take a great cast along with what should be a thrilling premise and created one of the most mind-numbingly boring cinematic experiences of 2013. As a holiday release with this kind of talent in front and behind the camera, I would have bet on “Out of the Furnace” being not only good, but great. I would have lost that bet, because this flick is pretty torturous to sit through.
Russell Baze (Christian Bale) works long hard hours at the local steel mill, which barely gives him any time to spend with his girlfriend Lena (Zoe Saldana). A big chunk of the money Russell earns, goes towards paying off gambling debts owed by his brother Rodney (Casey Affleck) to John Petty (Willem Dafoe).
After a night of drinking, Russell gets into a car accident that leaves two dead. This tragic event sends the elder Blaze brother to prison. During that time, Rodney is on tour in Iraq, the brother’s sick father passes away, and Lena winds up getting into a relationship with Police Chief Wesley Barnes (Forest Whitaker).
Not long after Russell is released from prison, his brother Rodney becomes a victim to a ruthless backwoods crime lord names Harlan DeGroat (Woody Harrelson). We get a pretty good idea of what kind of person Harlan is just by the film’s opening scene at a drive-in movie theater. Harrelson is by far the most entertaining part of “Out of the Furnace”.
One of the issues I had here is that for a movie about the connection of two brothers, there never feels like there is enough time spent with their relationship. That is saying a lot for a movie that feels like it would never end. There is also no tension here, everything seems to just fall flat. Affleck and Bale are both great in their roles but the material they are working with doesn’t offer anything remotely interesting.
It is a shame that “Out of the Furnace” turned out this way. Buying a ticket is like throwing your money into a fire.
By: Marc Ferman