Out of the Furnace

When Scott Cooper released Crazy Heart back in 2009, some people became curious as to what future films he'll be offering. So when details for his new film Out of the Furnace started to come out, many were intrigued.

But with a number of films that have hype, it doesn't exactly deliver. Perhaps it was because of the roster of actors Cooper acquired for his film that caused the hype to go through the roof. (This is why I try not to get too excited for a film based solely on its cast.)

Speaking of the cast, it is a rather impressive one regardless of the film's strength. The actors include Christian Bale, Woody Harrelson, Casey Affleck, Forest Whitaker, Willem Dafoe, Zoe Saldana and Sam Shepard. They all make the most out of the flimsy script, Bale especially.

Going back to the script for a moment. I could slightly see the point Cooper and Brad Ingelsby were trying to make but it was too all over the place for me to fully understand it. Maybe a bit more work on the script would have had me singing a different tune.

Anyway, Out of the Furnace isn't anything really special but it's also not a complete loss. There are good performances from the actors but in fairness, that's about it. I can already see this as one of those films played on TV on an infinite loop.

My Rating: ***1/2