Out of the Furnace: Lukewarm

By Andrew Bevevino 

Among the superstars to appear in the drama/thriller Out of the Furnace are Casey Affleck, Forrest Whitaker, Woody Harrelson, Willem Dafoe, and Zoe Saldana. Did I mention Christian Bale? Oh yeah, one of the producers is Leonardo DiCaprio.  All of this star-power should have churned out an epic movie, right? Well, not necessarily. It turns out that Out of the Furnace should have stayed in the furnace a little longer.

Set in the steel mill town of Braddock, Pennsylvania, the story unfolds around Russell Baze, a scruffy steel mill worker portrayed by Christian Bale. Russell works his days away at the local mill, trying to provide for his wife Lena, played by Zoe Saldana. Russell and Lena are happy, living in a small house in Braddock and even thinking about having kids.

The steel mill setting is, above all else, bleak. Rusty machinery and billows of smoke are always present, portraying a very raw, cold theme. Before nearly every scene is an establishing shot of the towering smoke stacks or the massive steel mills. Many shots are composed in dim lighting, and the appearance of the sun is scarce. If director Scott Cooper wanted to make a grim, dreary movie, then he did a damn good job.

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