OUT OF THE FURNACE (2013) – Movie Review ★★★★

Cast: Christian Bale, Casey Affleck, Woody Harrelson, Zoe Saldana, Forest Whitaker, Willem Dafoe & Sam Shepard – When Rodney (Affleck) disappears and the local law doesn’t do enough to find him it’s left to his older brother Russell (Bale) to takes matters into his own hands to find justice VERDICT Scott Cooper’s directorial debut Crazy Heart was a pretty average affair lit up by a fabulous Jeff Bridges performance but his second feature behind the camera OUT OF THE FURNACE is a powerful, mood driven picture set in and around the Blue Collar Rust Belt containing some Cracker Jack performances, a haunting soundtrack but most of all the brutal reality you feel whilst watching these two brothers who have not only combated war & prison but have had to contend with everyday life, struggling by in the gritty harshness of a small steel town – the acting is one of a master class with Christian Bale giving a sublime display of the wiser older sibling, Casey Affleck plays the younger brother visibly damaged by his time in the war who gets sucked into the underground fight scene to settle his debts, it’s a quite heartbreaking performance and easily his best onscreen display since 2010’s The Killer Inside Me and then we have Woody Harrelson playing to perfection the uncompromising, despicable hillbilly drug lord who’s character is such a far cry from that of Haymitch in The Hunger Games – overall from them opening scenes at the drive-in movie theater, the  to the dingy underground fight clubs OUT OF THE FURNACE is an underrated, riveting piece of cinema that should not be missed!!!