Director Scott Cooper is carving out quite a name for himself — or just associating his name with names that are etched all over Hollywood. His first movie, 2009’s Crazy Heart, was a beautiful portrait of an aging musician played by Jeff Bridges. And now his second film delves into darker territory, relating a violent story of two brothers struggling to make a living the Pennsylvania Rust Belt. His first movie he snagged Bridges and Robert Duvall, for his second he rented the services of Christian Bale, Woody Harrelson, Casey Affleck, Forrest Whitaker, William Defoe, and Zoey Saldana. That’s not too bad for a director with two films to his name.
But this isn’t just dumb luck on Cooper’s part. He’s luring big-name actors and actresses to his film because he possesses some directorial chops.
“Out of the Furnace” is a brooding crime thriller that sheds light on the bleak economic times in the backwaters of America. The film simmers on the brink of barely contained rage throughout and is punctuated by moments of intense violence. It’s kind of like Nicolas Winding Refn’s Drive if it were set in the Pennsylvania backwoods.
In actuality, it’s closer to 2010′s Winter’s Bone, and even echoes The Deer Hunter at times. The film revolves around crime and violence bred from economic despair and paints a bleak image of those individuals caught up in the undertow.
Despite the bleak setting and subject matter, this film is beautifully shot. Faces are bathed in shadows that reveal the character’s wrinkles and scowls. The watcher feels like they’re actually in the decaying Pennsylvania town or woods, or that they’re the one dodging a fusillade of right-hooks. Each scene seems like it was obsessed over. The atmosphere they evoke is just as important as the narrative they’re building.
Furnace isn’t perfect. The plot, while suitably interesting enough (brother gets in too deep with thugs, other brother intervenes), isn’t setting any precedents for narrative excellence. The film is predictable.
It thinks it’s more profound than it actually is, but if you can get pass that little gripe, you should experience a beautifully shot and wonderfully acted film.
Bale sheds his bat-cape here and delivers a powerhouse performance as Russell, a down on his luck steel worker. The nuances Bale brings to his character here are remarkable, especially in a role he easily could’ve mailed in. For those who forgot, Bale is actually a pretty decent actor when he’s not fighting off comic book baddies or ranting about how “we are the resistance.” In a film crammed with Oscar winners, Bale rises to the top.
But the competition is stiff.
Harrelson delivers yet again an awesome performance (but I mean really, when doesn’t he?) This time as a sadistic backwoods crime lord with a penchant for lollipops. Harrelson oozes despicableness in every scene — and he looks like he’s having the time of his life doing it.
Affleck also turns in a burning performance as Russell’s war-vet brother Rodney who boxes to pay off debts and presumably, to find release for his pent-up rage.
Rodney tangles with Harrelson’s DeGroat, and that’s where the narrative finds its fodder. Affleck, like Harrelson, continues his impressive string of roles and in Furnace you can’t help but salivate over what he’ll do next.
The rest of the cast pulls their weight, but it’s Bale, Harrelson and Affleck who really make this film a knockout. The film easily could’ve suffered from diminishing returns with such a gifted cast, but Cooper guides them through it deftly.
In the end Furnace is a searing film that, while not spectacular, showcases the immense potential of a young director who knows how to use a talented cast.