Out of the Furnace
Relativity Media | Release Date: December 4, 2013 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
63
METASCORE
Generally favorable reviews based on 40 Critic Reviews
Positive:
23
Mixed:
16
Negative:
1
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Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
100
Chicago Sun-TimesRichard RoeperDec 5, 2013
Bale has given a number of memorable performances, but this just might be his best work to date. Read full review
91
Entertainment WeeklyChris NashawatyDec 4, 2013
It's Bale, and his almost biblical quest for justice, who burns his way into your soul. Read full review
90
VarietyScott FoundasNov 10, 2013
Cooper seems to make actors feel safe and willing to expose themselves in ways they ordinarily might not, and time and again he takes scenes to places of unexpected emotional power. Read full review
80
New Orleans Times-PicayuneMike ScottDec 6, 2013
Yes, there are higher-profile films out there this year, and there are films with more resonant messages. But there are few that include so many captivating performances in such an involving story. Read full review
80
The New York TimesManohla DargisDec 3, 2013
It’s a heavy, solemn tale of blood ties that turns into a melodramatic gusher filled with abstractions about masculinity, America and violence, but brought to specific, exciting life by Christian Bale, Casey Affleck and Woody Harrelson. Read full review
80
Los Angeles TimesBetsy SharkeyDec 3, 2013
Bale, Affleck and Harrelson are in their element as men battered by life, delivering exceptional performances that hold nothing back. Bale and Affleck are as nuanced as Harrelson is unhinged. It is among the finest work done by all three. Read full review
80
New York Daily NewsJoe NeumaierDec 3, 2013
Like “The Deer Hunter” — from which it swipes its Keystone State milieu, its haunted veterans, and its self-endangerment metaphor — Out of the Furnace gets under your skin. Read full review
80
The Hollywood ReporterTodd McCarthyNov 10, 2013
In the meaty bad guy role, Harrelson entertainingly goes all the way, putting him way out there on the ledge with any of your favorite loonies, psychos and unhinged nutjobs. Read full review
75
Philadelphia InquirerSteven ReaDec 6, 2013
Cooper, who steered Jeff Bridges through his Oscar-winning turn in Crazy Heart, gets fiercely committed performances from just about everyone in Out of the Furnace. Read full review
75
Washington PostAnn HornadayDec 5, 2013
A well-acted, beautifully filmed, utterly depressing chronicle of revenge and thwarted dreams in post-industrial America. Read full review
75
Miami HeraldRene RodriguezDec 5, 2013
Scott Cooper, who directed and co-wrote Out of the Furnace, empathizes with people who feel their lives have hit a dead end (his previous film, "Crazy Heart," earned Jeff Bridges an Oscar as a washed-up country singer who had given up on himself). These are difficult characters to dramatize. Read full review
75
USA TodayClaudia PuigDec 5, 2013
Bale's is a pitch-perfect, understated performance in this involving neo-noir thriller. Read full review
75
Slant MagazineR. Kurt OsenlundDec 3, 2013
What this movie finally boils down to is a deceptively simple tale of two brothers, and of being one's brother's keeper, and of seeking justice on the crudest of fronts. Read full review
75
The PlaylistCharlie SchmidlinNov 10, 2013
The film is luckily powered by a powerful trio of performances at its core, and a unique, unpredictable structure that constantly reframes the action in a compelling way. Read full review
70
Arizona RepublicBill GoodykoontzDec 5, 2013
Out of the Furnace goes so far out of its way to be gritty and meaningful that it sometimes neglects its strongest feature: its actors. Read full review
70
The DissolveNathan RabinDec 5, 2013
Out Of The Furnace is a defiantly old-fashioned, well-crafted piece of storytelling whose power lies in its unadorned simplicity. Read full review
67
Austin ChronicleMarjorie BaumgartenDec 11, 2013
Out of the Furnace brims with atmosphere and Bale, Affleck, and Harrelson deliver some of their finest acting work. Smokestack lightning this film is not, but Out of the Furnace nevertheless provides a solid whiff. Read full review
67
Portland OregonianMarc MohanDec 5, 2013
Like last year’s vaguely similar “Killing Them Softly,” “Furnace” reeks of '70s-inspired, downbeat, politically conscious genre filmmaking. And its cast is composed of hard-working, seemingly omnipresent actors who understand what Cooper’s after. Read full review
63
The Globe and Mail (Toronto)Liam LaceyDec 5, 2013
If the downbeat plot is depressingly familiar, it’s partly salvaged by the quality of the performances. Read full review
63
ReelViewsJames BerardinelliDec 5, 2013
Out of the Furnace features some nice performances and is deliciously atmospheric but it never achieves its goal of being a compelling meditation about how the economic erosion of a community influences the lives of those trapped within it. Read full review
63
Boston GlobeTy BurrDec 5, 2013
Out of the Furnace could have been a starkly powerful human drama or a cheesy, vibrant action film. It splits the difference and ends up playing like a lesser Springsteen song. Read full review
63
Rolling StonePeter TraversDec 5, 2013
It's the bruised history of these brothers that gives Out of the Furnace its beating heart and the power to grip you hard. Read full review
63
Chicago TribuneMichael PhillipsDec 5, 2013
Affleck, in particular, finds something fierce and noble in uneven material and in his character's rage. He's not like any other actor in American movies. Read full review
60
Total FilmEmma DibdinJan 29, 2014
Christian Bale’s earnest, emotional turn sustains a thriller that throws a few mean jabs but staggers towards a punch-drunk resolution. Read full review
60
Time Out LondonCath ClarkeJan 28, 2014
Bale is as good as it gets, Harrelson shows us why he is Hollywood’s favourite psycho and Willem Dafoe is terrific as a sleazy drug dealer. The rest of the film is without a bat squeak of authenticity. Read full review
60
EmpireKim NewmanJan 27, 2014
A quality production, with awards-bid performances from Bale and Affleck to prove it... but, as signalled by the curiously unmemorable title, it flounders while trying to come up with a story to embody the things it wants to say about the sorry state of modern America. Worth seeing, but a near-miss. Read full review
60
Time OutJoshua RothkopfDec 3, 2013
Subtle performances — especially from Bale and Affleck, both growing meaner in the absence of hope — transcend any structural weaknesses. The bottom drops out early for them, but their endgame is savagely captivating. Read full review
60
Village VoiceStephanie ZacharekDec 3, 2013
Cooper may have gone overboard in delineating the hardships of blue-collar life in Out of the Furnace. But he has a gift for getting actors to put some muscle into their work, and enough finesse to make sure the sweat doesn't show. Read full review
58
Christian Science MonitorPeter RainerDec 5, 2013
This is fire-breathing melodrama masquerading as social commentary. Read full review
58
The A.V. ClubA.A. Dowd Dec 4, 2013
Sometimes resembling a cross between "Winter’s Bone" and "Warrior" — but without the stylized language of the former or the male-weepie conviction of the latter — Out Of The Furnace gets by on the commitment of its cast. Read full review
55
NPRMark JenkinsDec 6, 2013
Cooper does slow the action and set it in the least glamorous of circumstances, which drains the pleasure from the thriller conventions. But just because Out of the Furnace isn't much fun doesn't make it profound. Read full review
50
New York Magazine (Vulture)David EdelsteinDec 6, 2013
We’re supposed to take this more seriously because it takes itself more seriously. Read full review
50
RogerEbert.comMatt Zoller SeitzDec 5, 2013
Unfortunately this film has none of their urgency or sense of control; for long stretches it just doesn't seem to have any idea what, exactly, it wants to say, or be. Read full review
50
Wall Street JournalJoe MorgensternDec 5, 2013
Devolves from an electrifying character study into a disappointing tale of trackdown and revenge. Read full review
50
ObserverRex ReedDec 5, 2013
More bitter, bleak lives of American mill workers without a compass and no place to go if they had one are showcased in the pessimistic drama Out of the Furnace. It’s getting to be a dismal film director’s obsession bordering on cliché. Read full review
50
St. Louis Post-DispatchJoe WilliamsDec 5, 2013
Out of the Furnace is hot air. Read full review
50
McClatchy-Tribune News ServiceRoger MooreDec 4, 2013
As colorful as it and its people are, Cooper lets the brawling and the bigger-than-big performances get the better of him, and his story. Out of the Furnace feels undercooked, as a result. Read full review
50
Film.comJordan HoffmanDec 3, 2013
Out of the Furnace is no disaster, but it doesn’t achieve what it hopes to achieve, and it has no one to blame but itself. Read full review
50
New York PostLou LumenickDec 3, 2013
Out of the Furnace is much longer on style and belligerence than actual substance. Read full review
25
San Francisco ChronicleMick LaSalleDec 5, 2013
It shambles and ambles, seemingly without focus or pattern, from one thing to the next. Yet at the same time, it's predictable, not from moment to moment, but in its outlines. Read full review
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