Out of the Furnace is very much an updated version of The Deer Hunter for a post-Iraq war American. Kyle Cooper whose previous film was the Oscar winning Jeff Bridges vehicle Crazy Heart directs it. Ridley Scott and Leonardo DiCaprio at one point were supposed to direct and star respectively, but eventually stayed on only as producers.

The story is about two brothers Russell (Christian Bale) and Rodney (Casey Affleck) Blaze. Rodney keeps returning to Iraq and seeing the most unimaginable horrors and Russell is sent to prison after a drunk driving accident that turns fatal. Both brothers have been through a lot after they both serve their time so to speak, but Rodney falls into the underground world of bare knuckle boxing and his ultimate opponents are inbred rednecks.

The film harks back to the American cinema of the 1970s, when you could make independently minded films on the times you were living in for a mainstream studio. It owes a debt to The Deer Hunter but owes more than a bit to John Boorman’s Deliverance with both films inbred rednecks from hell villains. It’s also shot on film which gives it a distinctly 70s look.

Christian Bale gives another damn fine performance, which is now expected from him. Affleck gives a very different performance than his usual previous work; he plays a relatively macho character, which is very far from his work in Jesse James. The film is full of supporting roles from Woody Harrelson, Willem Dafoe, Forest Whittaker and Sam Shepard who all give their best with Dafoe being the highlight.

The film, however, is derivative of its influences and partly falls apart in the its last act. There is nothing wrong with being influenced by other filmmakers but the last act is basically the Russian roulette part of Deer Hunter with rednecks. The first 80 minutes are very strong and makes up for the last act’s problems.