Review of Out of the Furnace (2013) by Dave J — 22 Sep 2014

Tuesday, September 23, 2014.

(2013) Out Of The Furnace.

CRIME DRAMA.

This movie doesn't really go anywhere as it showcases the lives of two brothers by the names of Russell Baze (Christian Bale) and Rodney Baze Jr. (Casey Affleck) while living in small town life. And at the same time, you know of course, not-so-nice hillbilly, Harlan DeGroat (Woody Harrelson) and Russell are going to butt heads. William DeVoe also stars as the loan shark, John Petty Rodney owes money to. Sam Shepard, Forest Whitaker and Zoe Sadana also stars.

Co-written and directed by Scott Cooper who solidified Beau Bridges name again after starring in the movie "Crazy Heart", had "Out Of The Furnace" stayed as a drama movie then I would have liked it more, but as a result of the ridiculous sub plot involving the antagonistic Woody Harrelson character made the overall tone much more unbelievable. The other thing I had troubled with is the scenario involving the Christian Bale character as Russell going to jail as a result of "accidently" killing a family in a car. The thing is that it seemed like it was Russell's first offense, and that he wasn't completely in the wrong for the person should have looked both ways before choosing to back the car up resulting in their deaths. Although Russell was drunk, it seemed like he was good enough to drive straight through without seeing double. This does not make any sense, since as a viewer, I wanted to know more information about the situation on hand than the director was willing to provide. It is situations such as this it seemed like you're reading a not-so-pleasing book even though it has an ending.

2 out of 4 stars.