So many errors - where to start? How about the beginning - which is masterful. We see Harrelson's character, DeGroat, at a drive-in with his girl. He is creatively effective as he introduces us to his character.
Woody and Dafoe - a dream pairing. Their presence is what makes Hollywood film so great |
Scott
Cooper returns from his well—earned success with Crazy Heart to write and
direct “Out of the Furnace.” They should
have named this film “Down and Out in Scranton, P.A.”
A film must
exhibit some type of extraordinary feature for me to go see it nowadays. This one was easy: Woody Harrelson playing a hard villain – the
potential was too juicy to pass up. We’ve
got a top-shelf set of actors in this one: Affleck, Bale, DaFoe, Harrelson, Soldana,
and even Whitaker. Usually, with an all-star cast like this, a film is
impossible to screw up. Seems highly
unlikely one could mess it up, right?
Dafoe plays John Petty - such a great name to use in a film like this. The film claims to be about the rust belt - and an iron mill. But we see no mill, no work no nothing. |
Cooper
employs a simple, realism-focused style to this film project. Delivery would be up to the actors – where we
experience mixed results. However, the
primary flaws to this story sit with Cooper. This is no Crazy Heart.
Let’s have
a look at who did what in “Out of the Furnace,” a film billed as being set in a
steel and iron mill community. Outside
of two helicopter flybys over a metal mill, there are no scenes involving any type of work associated with anything.
Casey
Affleck: You know CA is going to bring it. He plays the confused, young and troubled
Iraqi war vet. Served four tours no less
–talk about laying it on extra thick. As Bale’s brother, Rodney Baze (great name),
CA participates in the region’s money earning past time: fist fighting. Skinny, lanky, and un-intimidating, CA wins
all the time, and even gets asked to lose when it would appear 100% apparent,
just by looking at him, that he most likely would. The latter becomes a big flaw in the film but
there are no flaws in CA’s acting.
Refreshingly real. Another fine job.
Christian
Bale: Plays the
older brother, Russell Baze, and it is him, out of all the cast, that has the
most trouble finding his character. His
speech is all over the place and it’s as if he is just mailing it in. Feels
like he thinks all he has to do is stand there, or sit there, and we should be
mesmerized. A huge disappointment,
especially knowing his commitment to this art.
Willem DaFoe:
It is John Petty, DaFoe’s character, who takes the award for best -performance here – outside of Harrelson, of
course. Poor storytelling does not share much with us about Petty and his
involvement in fighting, the mill, or the bar he owns . Whoever scouted the location for this bar
should be barred from the industry for five years. Still, the bar remains an issue – here we
have an important location, used for multiple key scenes, and there are no
people, and it has no character. DaFoe,
however, is at his best and he gives this film the genuine feel it needs.
Harrelson delivers. |
Big cheers for Harrelson |
Woody
Harrelson: Ah, the antagonist here, Harrelson plays Harlan
DeGroat to perfection. Interesting to
note that his presence establishes such an impact to the point where he doesn’t
require the usual one or two goon squad members, or side-kicks we would
normally see cast. Harrelson excels on
his own and the opening scene is one of the best I’ve been able to enjoy in a
long time. It would be nice if the
script permitted a fight involving Harrelson and Affleck – which really would
have boosted this film’s score to the
next level. Instead, we are blessed with an acceptable level of screen time for
DeGroat, which is nice.
Zoe Soldana: She looks better than ever
here. Watching her on the big screen is
worth the price of admission. (great ass!!!)
It was Whitaker's performance that was surprisingly masterful. Loved it. He is for real. |
Forrest Whitaker:
An excellent cameo role for Whitaker.
He develops his character ten times better than Bale with 1/10th
the screen time. Impressive work…shocked.
There are
some major issues with this film. For starters, the theme is to have Affleck –
a scrawny, emaciated, pathetic looking
man “throw” his fights and lose on purpose.
Now, why would anybody bet on him to win, anyway? Oh, because he is wearing army-issued
fatigues? It makes zero sense, even more
so when he and DaFoe visit DeGroat in Jersey.
No one has seen him fight – and the entire film loses credit.
I admire
Cooper’s attempt to create a simple, realism injected film. It’s just too bad he and his team failed
almost across the board. Soldana and
Bale laugh- hysterical laughter, I’m talking about – whenever they can- for no
reason. This is unreal – especially when
taking into account their character’s lives.
Another
area of concern with this film is the constant background music. Whether it is
a deep, subtle bass tone, a banjo (yes),
a flute, or snare drum and cymbal, excessive background music is
distracting.
On the
bright side, the film creates a couple unique, quality, raw moments of
intensity and tension – effective enough to feel. Bale’s car wreck and Affleck’s fight in Jersey are superb and this
effect is difficult to produce
Outside of
another major scouting issue with DeGroat’s house – the activity and everyone inside of it, along with
an awful set of lines delivered by a NJ state trooper, this film was a fun
time. Harrelson and DaFoe carry the
weight – and make this film almost an 8.
SCORE: 7.6821
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