Christian Bale in ‘Out of the Furnace’
Out of the Furnace
Directed by: Scott Cooper
Written by: Scott Cooper and Brad Ingelsby
Starring: Christian Bale, Casey Affleck, Zoe Saldana, Woody Harrelson, Forest Whitaker, William Dafoe and Sam Shepard
Out of the Furnace is the filmic equivalent of mutton dress as lamb. The film has a fantastic cast, but the story doesn’t match up. It is a film full and genre clichés, jarring plot-holes, and questionable character motivations.
Russell Baze (Bale), the strong silent type, content with his small town life and his job in the local steel mill. His brother Rodney (Affleck) however dreams of bigger things, however, his circumstances hold him back, he resorts to borrowing money in order to fund his gambling habit, he thinks he’s going to win big. He is not happy with sitting around getting older like his brother.
In a simple twist of fate Russell goes to jail on drink driving offences and Rodney goes to Iraq. Both come back from their respective furnaces changed men. Russell has lost his girlfriend to local cop Wesley (Whitaker). Rodney’s loss is more psychological, the horrors he witnesses in the Iraq war manifest themselves as PTSD on his return home. Rodney feels hard done by as he inverts John F. Kennedy’s famous line ‘Ask not what your country can do for you…’
The film tries to incorporate a political commentary but falls short of the mark. Some scenes reminded me of Andrew Dominik’s far superior Killing Them Softly (2012). Having Christian Bale watch a political debate whilst having a drink at the bar doesn’t cut it. Casey Affleck is the films highlight. He is fantastic at playing this intense character; his baby face making his furrow eyebrows and snarl all the more menacing. He alone carries the post-war trauma theme. If you’re looking for a better portrayal of how this issue can affect families look no further than Brodre (2004).
Christian Bale and Zoe Saldana in ‘Out of the Furnace’
The screenplay tries to try to hold its audience hand like it’s a three-year old child. It also gives its lead Christian Bale very little to work with. There are scenes where his true talent are his on show (one with Zoe Saldana on a bridge) but these are few and far between. Out of the Furnace is also an extremely violent film. It is also a film that tries to make excuses for and even advocate violence. ‘Whatever you did, you had to do’ Russell tells his brother coming back from the war.
When Rodney goes missing, the only way to get him back is through vigilante violence. This is where the film really falls down. After all the meaty themes the Out of the Furnace’s first half alludes to, it deteriorates into a one-way street revenge film. The lazy small town cops won’t get up off their asses so our scorned hero needs to do it all himself. The film takes an eye for an eye philosophy and it does so by going down a familiar generic path. Many will have seen this film before in the likes of The Brave One (2007), Man on Fire (2004), Taken (2008), and basically any Mel Gibson thriller. The director has also clearly seen The Deer Hunter (1978) over a hundred times.
A disappointing film that doesn’t get the most out its talent cast, and is directed with very little imagination, Woody Harrelson is on auto-pilot in an over the top performance as the films sought after villain.
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