A slow and melancholy drama, Out of the Furnace illustrates the struggles of a man who loses everything and must choose between revenge and freedom. Although the cast brought an exceedingly large amount of talent to the screen, the story did not quite live up to the acting.

Russell (Christian Bale) and his brother, Rodney (Casey Affleck) live in the depressed steel country of the United States, and lived their lives destined to work at the local factory, which is where their ill father worked till his death. Through poor choices and an unfortunate fate, Russell ends up in jail for some time while Rodney, who resists his fate of working at the steel mill, serves in Iraq.

Once Russell is released from jail, it’s clear that he’s lost everything in life expect for his brother. After Rodney returns from his Iraq tour, and continuing to avoid working at the factory, he becomes increasingly involved with crime ring circles. After a mishap with one of the biggest crime ring men on the East Coast, Russell must choose whether or not to lay low and keep his freedom, or seek revenge on behalf of his brother.

Writer and director Scott Cooper takes a humanist and realist approach to Out of the Furnace, just as we saw in his Academy Award nominated film Crazy Heart. Humans are flawed and not everyone’s lives are spent accomplishing terribly exciting tasks, especially in Pennsylvania steel mill country. What drives the film – and the characters – is the love Russell and Rodney have for each other, which is especially powerful as they literally only have each other in their lives.

Although somewhat slow, especially in the first third of the film, it is appropriately slow. It is necessary to see how much Russell truly did lose before we see him build his life back up, only to be faced with the choice of whether to seek revenge on behalf of his brother, or live his life in freedom. Additionally, the day to day life of humans is not always fast paced and exciting, which is accurately depicted through the heavy and lethargic style of writing.

Cooper undoubtedly rounded up a stellar cast – a film can’t go wrong when it combines Christian Bale, Casey Affleck, Sam Shepard, Woodey Harrelson, Zoe Saldana, and Williem Dafoe. In particular, Harrelson’s portrayal of one of the biggest Crime Ring King’s on the East coast was beyond believable, and his character’s ruthless and impatient demeanor is enough to get the audience hating his character, even in the very first scene.

Bale’s performance was undeniably and expectedly spot-on, as he was able to convincingly reflect the inner struggles of his character not only through his words, but also through action. That being said, both Bale and Affleck do the fantastic job of causing the audience to care about their characters, when their characters barely even care about themselves. That is a tough acting feat, which they both definitely accomplish.

Although slow at times, Out of the Furnace will get under your skin and make you feel fiercely loyal to your own family. Not many films today take the realist and humanist approach of mundane life, and Out of the Furnace is a refreshing and worthwhile film to see in that category.

Grade: B+

Rated: R (for strong violence, language and drug content)

Out of the Furnace opens in theaters on December 6, 2013