Out of the Furnace

Set in 2008 in blue-collar Braddock, PA, filmmaker Scott Cooper's Out of the Furnace revolves around hard-working steel mill welder Russell Baze (Christian Bale), who has a girlfriend named Lena (Zoe Saldana), and dutifully visits his terminally ill father whenever he can. Russell is concerned about his younger brother, Rodney (Casey Affleck), who has just returned from four Army tours in Iraq and is obviously suffering from PTSD. When Russell goes to prison for a drunk-driving accident that results in manslaughter, Lena strays and Rodney turns to bare-knuckle boxing, falling under the influence of the local bookie (Willem Dafoe), which leads him into notoriously volatile Harlan DeGroat's (Woody Harrelson) hillbilly crime ring in New Jersey's Ramapo Mountains. Despite realistic performances from an impressive A-list cast that also includes Forest Whitaker and Sam Shepard, this violent, hardboiled drama is slow-paced and meandering, while the archetypal characters are sketchily drawn. So when calm, rational Russell suddenly turns vigilante, it feels false. A dark, melancholy, and depressing dirge centering on contemporary decay and the decline of the American Dream, this is a strong optional purchase. [Note: DVD/Blu-ray extras include an “Inspiration” featurette with the costars (4 min.) and trailers. Exclusive to the Blu-ray release is a soundtrack featurette (with director Scott Cooper, composer Dickon Hinchliffe, and music supervisor Bob Bowen), a conversation with Cooper, a “Crafting the Fight Scenes” segment (5 min.), and a bonus UltraViolet copy of the film. Bottom line: a small extras package for an uneven film.] (S. Granger)