Out of the Furnace

Hollywood loves gritty dramas. Every year you will see quite a few on awards lists that boast big stars, great directors, and respected producers. Out of the Furnace has all of these things. It stars Christian Bale, Casey Affleck, Woody Harrelson, Willem Dafoe, Sam Shepard, Zoe Saldana, and Forrest Whitaker, is directed by Scott Cooper, and produced by Ridley Scott and Leonardo DiCaprio. With that much pedigree you could tell this movie was reaching for the Oscars... so why did so many pan it?

Russell Blaze doesn't have it easy. His dad is dying, his brother is getting into debt thanks to gambling, and he just want to escape the steel town of Braddock, PA with his girlfriend and live happily ever after. But he just keeps plodding away at his hard job in the mill, paying his brothers debts, and visiting his dad. Unfortunately it doesn't get any easier for Russell either... A tragic accident sends him to prison and when he gets out things have gotten even worse. His father is dead, his girlfriend is with another man, the steel mill is ready to close down, and his brother has suffered a painful tour in Afghanistan and is still in deep debt. So deep that he tries to pay it off in illegal fights. After all this Russell is ready to pick up the pieces and put his life back together... but he should know by now that his life isn't easy...

Out of the Furnace is almost a period piece. One that could have been to this generation what The Deer Hunter was to the last. These two movies are easily comparable and I know I'm alone when I say that Out of the Furnace is the better one. Almost every year a movie is inexplicably ignored by critics and crowds. Last year was Lawless and this year is easily Out of the Furnace. Both have career best performances and captivating stories. Both are about hard men living hard lives and doing questionable things. But neither should have been so easily ignored...