Out of the Furnace

Out of the Furnace details the comings and goings of several low-key, blue-collar Pennsylvania-based characters, with the narrative eventually following one such figure, Christian Bale’s Russell Baze, as he attempts to track down his wayward brother (Casey Affleck’s Rodney). It’s ultimately clear that Out of the Furnace fares best in its engrossing first half, as filmmaker Scott Cooper initially offers up an unpredictable narrative that keeps the viewer guessing at almost every turn – with the writer/director’s emphasis on the exploits of various periphery figures perpetuating the movie’s appealingly unconventional atmosphere. The gritty, intense vibe is, for the most part, heightened by the efforts of a stellar supporting cast that includes Willem Dafoe, Forest Whitaker, and Woody Harrelson, with, in particular, the latter turning in an especially engrossing performance as the film’s short-tempered and prone-to-violence central antagonist. And although Cooper has littered the proceedings with several engaging sequences (eg an unexpectedly emotional moment between Baze and Zoe Saldana’s Lena Taylor), Out of the Furnace, once it passes a certain point, adopts an increasingly straight-forward feel that proves to be far less compelling or interesting than that which came before – with the less-than-surprising atmosphere diminishing the impact of the movie’s admittedly striking final stretch. It’s finally clear that Cooper, between this and Crazy Heart, possesses a great deal of promise as an up-and-coming director, and yet it’s equally obvious that the filmmaker remains unable to craft a narrative that’s as well-defined as the atmosphere and performances within his endeavors.

*** out of ****