Out of The Furnace review

Out of the Furnace Christian Bale stars as a out-of-his-luck average blue collar worker whose life gets turned upside down by a series of unfortunate events that culminates in a head on collision with the county's redneck psychopath (Woody Harrelson in one of his best acting roles). Caset Affleck plays the tormented war veteran little brother who always is in trouble. The movie starts well building towards a climax that unfortunately becomes predictable and not so much satisfying. A totally disconnected scene where Bale apparently was invited to have dinner with his ex (Zoe Saldana)and her now live-in cop boyfriend (Forrest Whitaker) shortly after having a heartbreaking revelation from her seemed out of place and unnecessary IMO. Bale acting ranges from excellent to mere acceptable. Casey Affleck seemed like the wrong choice for his role and Harrelson just steals the movie which was produced by Ridley Scott and Leonardo DiCaprio. 7/10

 

When has Woody not stolen a movie? Let's just name a few off the top of my head.
Zombieland - Yeah he was the headliner but still.
Hunger Games - The classy drunk asshole who you still wound up liking.
No Country for Old Men - A quote comes to mind "there are no small roles, only small actors".
7 Pounds - One of my favorite films.


There were a couple films he didn't impress me though.
Seven Psychopaths - Film just didn't work the way you thought it might.
Bunraku - Crap movie that I had to switch off.

 

Bale IMO is the best actor in the biz (or at least top 5). Therefore, with his acting ability, it's gonna make ANY movie good. You combine that with Casey being a very good actor, and Woody being an underrated actor who plays a psycho VERY WELL in this movie, and overall I liked this movie. 8/10

 

Bale is the best in the Biz? Based on what? He's a good actor but he hasn't even won an Oscar has he? Not that I think that is the requirement to be considered the best, but he just hasn't really had a defining performance to hang his hat on.

 

So? They gave a fuckin Oscar to Jamie Fox! Wanna tell me with a straight face that Fox is a better actor than Bale?

It's just my opinion. There's no actor in the biz I can think of that's CLEARLY better than Bale. Problem is, the general public identifies with Bale as Batman, so they don't really appreciate his other performances.

 

No he's not but Fox definitely deserved that Oscar. Even still that had more to do with opportunity than ability. I'm not saying Bale isn't very good, I just don't see where he's shown he's one of the best. But like you say, it is your opinion so I guess you're right.

 

I'd say that Bale was at least AS good in The Fighter as Fox was in Ray.

I'm not saying Bale is the same league as prime Deniro, prime Pacino, or Hackman, but out of the current crop he's easily one of the best.

 

You know what, I forgot about The Fighter. I guess he does have a defining role, that one, and yeah I think he should have gotten an Oscar for that.

 

He did get an Oscar for it you moron

 

Was it like a cross of Deer Hunter, Winter's Bone, and Warrior?

 

Thanks for that. Now see you in six months.

 

This was a great movie. 8/10

Casey Affleck is a heck of an actor.