Out of the Furnace

— I usually like dark films and “Out of the Furnace” is dark, but it is only a so-so film. A few scenes reminded me “Winter’s Bone” and “Mystic River” and I wish “Furnace” could have been in their league. Christian Bale does an admirable, understated job as the working class guy whose life is out of control, and Woody Harrelson is perfect as a meth-dealing, fight-club-organizing, killing hillbilly. In fact, as I think about it, Casey Affleck, Willem Dafoe, Forrest Whitaker, and Sam Shepard all do a fine job too, but somehow all the characters add up to more gritty reality than anyone needs. The film heaps dirt and drugs and illness, upon rejection and tragedy and death, over and over again, until things couldn’t get much more sad and bleak.

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[2013. 116 min. Directed by Scott Cooper. Starring Christain Bale, Casey Affleck, Zoe Saldana and Woody Harrelson.]
http://news.moviefone.com/2013/12/05/out-of-the-furnace-review/