Bale is just as heroic here as he is as Bruce Wayne.

| Original Score: A- | Aug 19, 2024

This tale of brothers who can’t stay out of trouble trots out all the clichés of America in its economic malaise: the lack of blue-collar work, and every genre cliché of Westerns, brothers protecting brothers and the need to take the law into your hands.

| Dec 5, 2022

Out of the Furnace considers a bleak outlook on economic disparity and how it shapes the lives of those affected, but the film’s methods are obvious and timeworn.

| Original Score: 2/4 | Aug 19, 2022

If it did nothing else than rub America's nose in the abominable treatment of soldiers returning from war, "Out of the Furnace" would more than justify itself. While it's a depressing story, it's also chock full of actor's actors and therefore engrossing.

| Original Score: 3.5/5 | Mar 29, 2022

It turns from a straight-faced thriller with political aspirations into a bargain-basement Deliverance.

| Original Score: 2/5 | Feb 18, 2022

So focused on the dark you almost want to play it in reverse. Like the old joke goes: What do you get when you play a country song backwards? You get your house back, get your wife back...

| Original Score: 3.5/5 | Feb 1, 2021

Devoid of virtually any admirable emotions, characters, or resolutions.

| Original Score: 3/10 | Dec 4, 2020

The film suffers from the same as the previous one, a lot of correction, guaranteed entertainment, everything in its place, but an absolute lack of personality. [Full Review in Spanish]

| Apr 10, 2020

...the good aspects of OUT OF THE FURNACE marginally outweigh the less imaginative elements.

| Feb 13, 2020

Elevated even higher by its performances, Out of the FurnaceE is a quiet, observational character study of the human condition and human behavior that delves into the darkness and light of each soul, burning itself into your conscience.

| Jan 7, 2020

At its core it features a pair of heart rending performances that transcend the film's unsurprising terrain.

| Original Score: 3/5 | Aug 29, 2019

This is a gem that should be sought out. Anchored by a strong cast, this effective drama captures the seedy underbelly of the working class.

| Original Score: B | Apr 9, 2019

There are flashes of what might have been, but for all its interesting characters and moments of brilliance, the film is never gripping nor, as it turns out, all that thrilling.

| Original Score: 3/5 | Mar 7, 2019

Out of the Furnace seems to be striving for the balance of action and introspection found in a lot of classic '70s indies. What it achieves instead is a well-cast, slow-paced piece that has action and angsty quiet, which isn't the same thing.

| Original Score: C+ | Jan 19, 2019

There's an impressive, lived-in authenticity about the movie, but it's bogged down by heavy-handed symbolism, rote storytelling and zero female characters of note (sorry Zoe Saldana). Well-made, but why?

| Nov 16, 2018

The acting is incredible -- the cast boasts two Oscar winners and three nominees; and visually, the film is bleak and stirring. In the end though, the story is a lot of build-up to a forgettable finish.

| Original Score: 6/10 | Nov 3, 2018

The choice to pit [Christian Bale] against a specific bad guy reduces the movie somewhat; we've seen this story in various guises many times before. But it also gives the film a steady focus..

| Aug 21, 2018

... we receive an aimless, generic crime drama that cuts itself off at the knees early on and scrambles for relevancy thereafter.

| Original Score: C- | Sep 6, 2017

The narrative is so straightforward that it requires the kind of flashbang storytelling that Cooper clearly isn't interested in.

| Original Score: 2.5/5 | Apr 15, 2016

A humorless, ponderously solemn dirge that chokes on its own oppressive aura of self-importance.

| May 5, 2015