When the first trailer for Scott Cooper‘s OUT OF THE FURNACE dropped a while back, I was incredibly surprised at how good the movie looked. I really shouldn’t have been so surprised because the movie stars Christian Bale, Casey Affleck, Woody Harrelson, Forest Whitaker, Willem Dafoe, Zoë Saldana and Sam Shepard. That is one damn fine cast. Plus, Cooper had a good filmmaking debut with 2009’s CRAZY HEART. OUT OF THE FURNACE is very different from the musical film that garnered star Jeff Bridges an Oscar, but it looks to be a worthy awards contender all it’s own.
OUT OF THE FURNACE looks like a gritty revenge tale with no glimmer of humor. Some may say that sounds bleak, but it looks like the very definition of a thriller to me. Throw in references to the war in Iraq and underground criminals and you have a timely tale that could easily be a headline from any newspaper.
Russell Baze (Christian Bale) has a rough life: he works a dead-end blue collar job at the local steel mill by day, and cares for his terminally ill father by night. When Russell’s brother Rodney (Casey Affleck) returns home from serving time in Iraq, he gets lured into one of the most ruthless crime rings in the Northeast and mysteriously disappears. The police fail to crack the case, so – with nothing left to lose – Russell takes matters into his own hands, putting his life on the line to seek justice for his brother.
OUT OF THE FURNACE looks like one of those films that won’t set the box office ablaze but will build a lot of acclaim via word of mouth. I am excited to see if Christian Bale can pull off double nominations between this and AMERICAN HUSTLE. It is movies like this that make me wish the Oscars had an award for Best Ensemble.
OUT OF THE FURNACE opens December 6th.
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