Les brasiers de la colère

This is one among the finest movies i have ever seen. One of the best performances by Christian Bale, Casey Affleck, Woody Harrelson. A must watch. I don't know why it's so low rated.

Scott Cooper takes a sharp turn from the school book tone of his last film Crazy Heart and brings us to a more dismal world in Out of the Furnace. Our hero, Russel Baze, (played smartly by Christian Bale), is a well intentioned and responsible man who in trying to protect his brother meets cruel and cold irony and is sent wayward in this ruined world. Meanwhile his brother returns from deployment with a terrible case of post traumatic stress disorder and brings his chaos into the "imbred" and lawless hills of New Jersey, led by the degenerate Harlan Degroat, (Woody Harrelson).

Now, the story in the vein of films like Deer Hunter and Winter's Bone, two films I personally admire for capturing the delicacy of people amid depressed communities. It's hard to say this film doesn't measure up. The lighting, sound, cinematography, editing, story, are all accomplished with the utmost professionalism. However, if the script fell into the wrong hands its flaws would easily be detected because the weakness of its integrity would show. The story takes too many short cuts to get where it needs to go. Some might already find it slow. It is after all a vignette of the decline of our hero.

However, what really made this movie work for me was the brilliant performances of the trait. William Dafoe as a local and smart small time boss. Sam Shepard as the uncle, a face of masculinity and integrity, Tom Bower as a complex and familiar bartender and gate man. Casey Affleck as the young and traumatized brother, Forrest Whitaker as the conflicted cop, Zoe Saldana as the girlfriend. Though, it's Harrelson who really steals the show, he's evil, beyond logic and powerful You can't wait to see him again and that antagonistic combination is rare and even more scarcely pulled off.

Out of the Furnace won't be nominated for best screenplay. However, in my eyes, it should get a nod for everything else.

Star studded cast, including one of the greats of this generation, Christian Bale. The acting is phenomenal. Harrelson always makes a great psycho. Scott Cooper is undeniably one of Hollywood's more distinguished directors of intense movies, and just as capable as anyone at evoking emotional power through a camera.

With all of that said, 'Out of the Furnace' has a slow, yet constant pace. It never has a moment where it really picks up. I believe this to be quite purposeful, as it emphasis the hopelessness and depression of both the characters and it's setting.

A good sense of realism though out the film. Nothing was too exaggerated, and was really quite believable.

When I saw the cast list, I knew there would be some wonderful performances, but I was surprised at how they uniformly surpassed my expectations. I believe it's Bale's best work so far, and that's saying something. Likewise with Affleck, Harrelson and Saldana. The rest of the cast was wonderful as well.

There is one scene in particular (I won't spoil it here) where an actor lets loose in a way that careful directors and nervous producers would normally edit out. I applaud Scott Cooper for breaking the rule that films are meant to entertain (and earn millions), and raw emotion that feels too close to reality is to be avoided. It's inelegant, and not what we want to see from stars, especially attractive ones. Cooper lets people be people, and I find that incredibly refreshing.

I was immediately invested in the characters -- warts and all. As painful as many of their decisions were to watch, I went along for those very bumpy rides, because any other course taken would be untrue for these characters.

I recently saw "12 Years A Slave," and feel inclined to mention that I sense a new, somewhat subversive style of filmmaking emerge -- and maybe a wonderful new culture in Hollywood. (At least I hope so.) It's one where films about extraordinary hardship are treated a way that doesn't hold back, glamorize or otherwise mollify them.

In my opinion, when Hollywood slicks up violence (as it almost always does), it informs us that we shouldn't really be moved by its tragedy. We aren't shaken to the core and inspired to stop suffering wherever we can. That's shameful. So kudos to Cooper and to Steve McQueen for embracing a reality in their films that reconnects us with humanity instead of suggesting it's okay to blithely mock it.

If I have any criticism of this film, it's that two scenes where one plays out as a metaphor for the other may not have been necessary. Otherwise, I feel the writing is disciplined and at the same time very rich and rewarding.

The potential horrors of poverty and a lack of opportunity on display in this film are dealt with in a way that exempts political bias, and that in itself is a huge accomplishment.

A sense of hope exists amidst the heartache of this film. I will see it again.

The story was interesting and shows once again the injustice in life. The action was varied and it didn't get boring. Overall, a good drama with a fair ending.