Review of Out of the Furnace (2013) by Dawdlingpoet — 27 Nov 2021

This is a crime/drama/mystery film with themes including anger, revenge and distrust. It is quite a gritty watch, gritty and urban, with the criminal underworld, including drug use, being featured and it certainly doesn't hold back as far as strong language is concerned. The characters mostly have an element of bravado, presumably so their not bothered too much by others in their neighbourhood. I'd say this is a fairly character development heavy film, in terms of the plot - I found myself wondering what I presume Russell must have wondered, wanting to solve the mystery myself. Visually speaking, the film is quite dark, with many scenes shown taking place at night. It adds to the mysterious atmosphere, which is predominantly quite tense too, understandably so. I felt that the plot was a bit slow to build, with the first half an hour or so being a somewhat depressing-ly bleak view of the area and the presumably mostly working class inhabitants getting their kicks (literally) out of tussles and other shows of agression. The film features a number of well known actors, including Christian Bale as Russell, Woody Harrelson as Harlan, Casey Affleck as Rodney Baze and Forest Whitaker as chief Wesley Barnes. Zoe Saldana also appears, portraying Lena Taylor, who works at a local elementary (or, as we call it in the UK, primary) school. I thought that Bale probably gave the best performance, as he seems more naturally the 'mean and moody' type and indeed he does tend to go for roles in such gritty, crime based films, most of the time. Wood Harrelson portrays a different type of character to the roles I've seen him in, a more dark and agressive one.

Regarding the camerawork, there are some nice ariel shots featured, which show off the surrounding rural landscape of the area. I realise this clashes a bit with the whole 'gritty urban' description earlier - I was a bit surprised to see the setting not so far away but it seems thats the case. Given a fair few scenes are set in the dark, it surprised me when it would change to a new scene in a brighter area. Otherwise I thought the camera work was relatively blunt and 'to the point', for want of a better term. It was very slightly shaky in parts but not excessively so.

Music wise, some pieces played are relatively spooky in tone, slow instrumental pieces, although others have a twang of country, although there isn't a constant use of music, with the crowds present in different scenes making up the majority of background noise. Content wise, as I say it contains very strong language, scenes of drug taking and some bloody violence, plus sex references. It is a bit of a harsh watch in terms of content and for that reason its been given a 15 rating, understandably so.

I felt this film did well in presenting the viewer with very much a volatile tone throughout - we're left trying to second guess what might be discovered next, what various characters may do and so on. As I say its a gritty watch and its a relatively good character based film, apart from the fact that I couldn't help but wonder why I should feel especially sorry for some of the people, given various plot details, with the exception of perhaps one or two. I think a good word to describe this, in a sense, would be barren - both barren and bleak are terms that well describe the tone of this film. Overall I felt this was a good film, although probably not the best of its type. Its hard to entirely put my finger on why I wasn't more keen on it, other than perhaps it just seemed a little too bleak - I think the characterisations missed something, a bit of extra depth would have helped and its not as if there aren't enough films of this ones genres around as it is, though, as I say, it was a bit slow in terms of building up the plot. Well, it feature a good cast and it has a good sense of tension and some decent camerawork but the plot was a bit slow to build and it probably isn't the most original of such films ever, so I'm sort of 50/50 about it. Its a good enough film, in my mind but probably not the best of its type ever, so I suppose it boils down to whether your a fan of the cast or really like the sound of it, in which case I would recommend it but otherwise, perhaps not? due to that, I'll opt for the 'undecided' option and leave it up to you to decide for yourself.