Christian Bale in Out of the Furnace: a rotten enterprise

The film aspires to mimic the qualities that make a movie stand out during the pre-Oscars rush - but despite a highly qualified cast and credible producers, it falls well short of the mark.

By Ryan Gilbey

Out of the Furnace (15)
dir: Scott Cooper

You could ask the world’s most highly skilled carpenters to build you a bookcase but the result would be disastrous if all they had to work with was rotten wood. The presence of Christian Bale, Casey Affleck, Woody Harrelson, Willem Dafoe, Sam Shepard and Forest Whitaker is a sound reason to see Out of the Furnace. The prestige extends to the production credits – where you’ll find Ridley Scott and Leonardo DiCaprio – but the film is one hell of a bad bookcase.