'Out of the Furnace'

Movie heroes who appear tough but have soft hearts are not strangers. “Out of the Furnace” offers Christian Bale (Russell Baze) an opportunity to showcase his striking ability to play an iron man wrapped in a soft heart with much love for his brother Rodney (Casey Affleck). His phenomenally transformative performance that headlines this film will garner glowing words — and deservedly so.

In this movie, Christian Bale goes back to the blue-collar ground that netted him the Best Supporting Actor Oscar for “the Fighter.” Russell serves as the backbone of his family. However, it seems all the cruel twists of fate land on him. A car accident lands him in prison, his ill father is in bed and his younger brother gets involved with a ruthless crime ring. When Rodney’s death punctures him and takes his macho illusion of self-sufficient solitude with it, Russell decides to clench justice in his own hands and fight against fate for his brother.

“Out of the Furnace” is an amalgam of desperation and impulses. It’s part fierce fighting, part devastation, highlighted by the dark-colored image saturation used by director Scott Cooper, who also directed “Crazy Heart.”

Russell strips the emotive talk down to a bare minimum, yet his willingness to sacrifice freedom for his brother and the near-absence of expression successfully induce a sense of contemplation about his essence. Bale charts an admirably uncompromising man holding a strong bond with his brother.

The entire cast has experience with the Academy Awards: winners Bale and Forest Whitaker, along with nominees Affleck, Woody Harrelson and Sam Shepard. Together they sharpen the performance without any blind angles. The director carefully presents Russell’s ambivalence about freedom and justice, and his final decision enlightens the essence of this heavy-laden story. Life can be hard and destiny can be unfair. We’d drink our fear, but never swallow our pride.