Out of the Furnace

Out of the Furnace

Starring Christian Bale, Woody Harrelson, Casey Affleck, Willem Dafoe

Directed by Scott Cooper

Synopsis:
Russell (Christian Bale) is a hard working man who is employed in a steel mill in Pittsburgh.  He's worked hard all his life and has a beautiful girlfriend Lena (Zoe Saldana), and is very close with his brother Rodney (Casey Affleck), who just returned from the war.

All this ends tragically one fateful night, which results in Russell going to jail for five years.  When he comes out, he finds his father has died, he lost his girlfriend to police chief Wesley Barnes (Forest Whitaker), and Rodney is in deep debt and is involved in an underground fighting ring with his bookie John Petty (Willem Dafoe).

After a fight goes bad with maniacal Harlan DeGroat (Woody Harrelson), both John and Rodney go missing, and Russell feels that the police don't really care and sets out on his own to find out what happened to his brother, placing himself in harm's way but not caring because he has nothing left to lose.

Review:
When I saw the previews for "Out of the Furnace," I was excited.  It had a top-notch cast and seemed like a great thriller.  Unfortunately, it turned out to be a very mediocre film, but could've been excellent if it just reached a little higher.

There was no issue with the acting, especially out of the leads.  Christian Bale gives a great performance as a man who worked hard all his life and had everything, only to lose it all.  Woody Harrelson heralded back to his "Natural Born Killers" style role as the ultimate evil.  Casey Affleck was the scene stealer as a former war vet who has no job, no future, and no hope. 

Still, the film just scratched the surface of everything.  The cause of Russell going to jail was never fully resolved.  His animosity towards the police - and especially Wesley Barnes - never came to fruition.  DeGroat is a criminal genius, but falls for the simplest trap ever.  The film had a flatline feel, and it needed some peaks to make it excellent, but failed to do so.

Summary:
A flawed film with amazing actors, but a truly mediocre story.

My Rating: B+