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
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
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