Review of Out of the Furnace (2013) by Jesse O — 02 May 2014

This ends up being a pretty good movie that would've been a little better if some trimming was done in order to remove unnecessary scenes. I get the reasoning behind Russell going to prison, it's done to showcase how he has lost absolutely everything he cares about, he's lost his girlfriend, his father passed all while he's in prison, so when he gets out the only person he has left is his brother.

But I really found the whole prison stuff to be completely unneeded. I believe this same thing could've been done any number of ways that wouldn't have taken as long. Have Lena dump Russell because of his lack of commitment to their relationship, by virtue of not wanting a child, just after his father's death.

Maybe not EXACTLY after it, as that would make Lena come across like an utter bitch, but do it some time after his father's death. You'd get the same exact movie, except the story is a little more tightly paced and, I believe, that would overall affect the quality of the final edit of the film.

There's other stuff here and there that you can cut out, because that's one of the film's main issues, it's longer than it needs to be and there's just not enough material to fill almost 2 hours of screen time.

It just feels a little empty, which is apropos given the quiet little town the Bazes live in. I did like the movie had an underlying political tone of the lower-to-middle class being affected by jobs being outsourced to China and war veterans struggling to get their life back in order after seeing and, most likely, doing horrific things.

The film, obviously, has great acting. The script is definitely a little lacking but Christian Bale and Woody Harrelson do a great job at overcoming those weaknesses and letting their strengths as actors shine through.

Good movie, just one with a couple of flaws that keep it from being better than it should've been thanks to its talented cast and director.