Out of the Furnace - Review

The following review has a plethora of spoilers and if you haven't seen the film yet, you probably should consider watching it before reading any further.

Disclaimer from Lalit Paryani: We watched the film at 11:45 pm on a Thursday night with a very humble serving of popcorn in stow. It doesn't matter what kind of popcorn. The only point I am trying to make is that this was the first film in ages where I went in with popcorn, or any kind of edible treat for that matter. For all the people with whom I have watched films in the past, I would like to apologise for breaking my code. I have gone to great lengths to convey my discomfort with anyone eating popcorn while watching a film due to the unnerving sound generated by the menacing crunches of the popped corn. I realise I might have been annoying and might have even offended a large number of people. I would simply like to submit my apologies for I have succumbed to this hypocrisy. I didn't even enjoy the popcorn.

Let's get on with the review.

Lalit: I just want to start by speculating on the fact that I think Forest Whitaker probably didn't get paid enough which is why he chose to "act" the way he did.

His role in The Butler is being rallied so much, that any consideration it might receive from the academy will be nullified when they watch Out of the Furnace.

Forest Whitaker's primary motive was to keep the audience guessing whether he is awake or is in fact

sleepwalking. And of course to provide the much required jolt of humour to lighten the mood from time to time.

Forest Whitaker was supposed to play the role of the most incompetent cop ever, who had magical powers to drive the car without looking straight ahead, as was rightly pointed out by Tarun.

Rather than taking any action, Whitaker's character (whose name I forgot the instant the film got over) simply decided to scream slurs at his perpetrator because surely that's what stops a crime from being committed.

And then there was Woody Harrelson. He was about as threatening as Paris Hilton's Chihuahua. The mood the film wanted to setup was that whenever his character was on screen, a sense of dread should fill the atmosphere since we are present in the midst of a lunatic. Instead we see a potential bad guy trying to pass on the feeling of intimidation by sucking on a lollipop. It's so absurd, that even the film's character calls him out on it.

Moving on to the positives. The cinematography was splendid. Not over the top at all, and very comfortable to get accustomed with. The story decided to move on a pace of its own and took its time to actually launch into a full blown plot. It did, however, give Bale and Affleck's character enough time to develop.

What wasn't immediately developed was the bond they shared with each other. To compensate for that, we are quickly shown a shot of Bale's character getting a tattoo of his father (who also shares his name with Affleck's character) on his arm while in prison. Now, you might have noticed that I have forgotten the names of the characters, for which I am ashamed.

The story decided to move on a pace of its own and took its time to actually launch into a full blown plot. It did, however, give Bale and Affleck's character enough time to develop.

Tarun: Rodney and Russell Baze and Harrelson was McGrout. Dafoe was John Petty.

Lalit: Oh yeah, thanks for that. Overall, if the film would have been paced more sensibly and would have recast Harrelson and Whitaker, then I would have enjoyed the film a whole lot more.

And in comes the first rating.

Lalit: My Filmy Foodies Rating: 2 - GOOD.

Tarun: The cinematography stood out for me. I didn't realise until the middle of the movie how good the visuals were. The music was minimal, they reused the same theme pretty much in the entire film, but I liked it. It was Gustavo-esque, so nothing to dislike there. Also the opening and closing track by Pearl Jam was good. I think it was the same track but I'm not entirely sure on that.

The music was minimal, they reused the same theme pretty much in the entire film, but I liked it. It was Gustavo-esque, so nothing to dislike there.

Lalit: The credits listed two different tracks. Unless there was another one used in the middle somewhere, I would assume they were different.

Tarun: Oh, okay. But coming back to the visuals, there was one shot that really stood out for me, (and I'll try my best to avoid spoilers) when Harrelson was in the middle of his card game and the camera is looking at him from Affleck's shoulder. And a bit later he gets up and walks over to come face to face with Affleck. And the shot doesn't cut but it's changed into a regular close up, over the shoulder shot. I don't know why but I thought that was pretty cool. It might not be the first time someone has used this kind of shot, but it was used very effectively in that scene.

The visuals really stood out for me. It might not be the first time someone has used this kind of shot, but it was used very effectively in that scene.

Lalit: I didn't think about that shot that way, but now that I think about it, yeah, it was subtle yet effective.

What did you make of the Kubrick-esque ending?

Tarun: Going into a bit of spoilers here. There wasn't enough time to notice that shot and see if that table was the same as the one in Dafoe's office. If so, maybe he took over that business. In any case, Whittaker let him go.

Lalit: I distinctly remember a window behind the table he was sitting on in the last shot Petty's (Dafoe) office didn't have a window behind his desk.

Tarun: Oh yeah, so I guess that wasn't the case. But he was sitting there like The Godfather. Maybe he set up shop in his own home.

Lalit: Maybe they just wanted to reinforce the fact that Whitaker is a very incompetent cop and all Bale had to do was run away from the crime scene since Whitaker just couldn't catch up. So Bale is free in the end because Whitaker can't be bothered.

Tarun: Hahaha. Whittaker was a joke in this film. So was Harrelson.

Lalit: Harrelson was still okay. But Whitaker should be ashamed. At least I would if I were an actor. And I'm fairly certain the script didn't call for his character to have that voice. Unless Whitaker wanted to add his own personal touch to the character and wanted his character to be suffering from a severe throat infection and to add to the ordeal that he was basically an accessory in a wife cheating on her husband.

Tarun: Wait what? Whose wife?

Lalit: Yeah, Avatar chick was cheating on Batman with the Butler, wasn't she?

Tarun: Hahaha, dude they weren't married.

Lalit: Maybe not on paper. But their hearts were married.

Tarun: And on that bombshell..

We end our review. But not before checking in on the second rating.

Tarun: My Filmy Foodies Rating: 2 - GOOD.

Aggregate Filmy Foodies Rating: 2 - GOOD.

Watch it in the cinema, or watch it at home? Doesn't matter - just watch it.