Out of the Furnace (2013)
*** (out of 4)
Flawed but powerful drama bout a man (Christian Bale) who wants to go into the mountains and seek some justice when his younger brother (Casey Affleck) goes missing. I'm not going to reveal too much of the plot outside that basic information because there's actually a lot more to the film than what the trailer would have you believe. Director Scott Cooper certainly knows how to build up an atmosphere because this, along with the great performances, makes this worth seeing even with some of the flaws. I understand why this film is getting mixed reviews because I think a lot of people are going to be put off by how slow the build-up is and at the pacing the director uses. In fact, I thought that the pacing was a little bit off early on in the picture and I also thought that a few scenes could have been trimmed down a bit. With that said, there's no question that the setting and atmosphere are spot on and this is enough of a reason to recommend the film. The backwoods settings are perfectly captured by the director as is the desperation of this small town as well as the lead character. The Bale character suffers a lot of loss throughout the picture and as the events pile up it just makes the ending all the more clear. I thought the lead character was perfectly written as was the younger brother, although some of the war stuff is pushed a bit. Outside the atmosphere, the other big reason to see the picture are for the incredibly intense performances. Bale offers up yet another wonderful performance. Even though the character really doesn't say a whole lot, the way Bale's eyes and facial gestures look, you just know what he's feeling at all times. I thought Bale's intensity was perfect but so was the performance by Affleck. The character actor just keeps getting better. A "troubled younger brother" is something that has been played to death but Affleck finds a way to make it original. Zoe Saldana, Sam Shepard, Willem Dafoe, Forest Whitaker and especially Woody Harrelson are also very effective in their supporting roles. Another major victory goes to the music score, which perfectly suits the atmosphere and violence of the story. OUT OF THE FURNACE deals with a lot of issues that many other films have dealt with over the decades. With that said, even with its flaws, the director manages to slowly build up a rather powerful film that delivers characters that you care for as well as hate.
