Annual Top Films Lists

Top 100 Most Anticipated Films of 2013: #90. Scott Cooper’s Out of the Furnace

Published on January 10, 2013

Out of the Furnace

Director: Scott Cooper
Writer(s): Cooper and Brad Ingelsby
Producer(s): Michael Costigan, Leonardo DiCaprio, Ryan Kavanaugh, Jennifer Davisson Killoran, Ridley Scott, Tony Scott, Brooklyn Weaver
U.S. Distributor: Relativity Media
Cast: Christian Bale, Zoe Saldana, Woody Harrelson, Willem Dafoe, Casey Affleck, Forest Whitaker, Sam Shepard, Boyd Holbrook

I wasn’t won over by his directing debut, Crazy Heart – but I was sold on the lead perfs from Jeff Bridges and Maggie Gyllenhaal and some of the genuine moments created between the pairing. With his sophomore film, Scott Cooper should be firing on all cylinders due his loaded ensemble cast comprised of Christian Bale, Zoe Saldana, Woody Harrelson, Willem Dafoe, Casey Affleck, Forest Whitaker and Sam Shepard. If this thriller falls into the same category of crime films such as Killing Them Softly, then we might have a winner here.

Gist: Written by Cooper and Brad Ingelsby, the film tells the story of two brothers living in a mill town in the economically depressed Rust Belt. A cruel twist of fate lands the elder brother in prison (Christian Bale) and the younger (Casey Affleck) becomes involved with a violent Northeastern crime syndicate.

Release Date: With very little in the way for releases past the Spring 2013 point, Relativity Media might want to consider a strong opening date – one that does not conflict with Christian Bale’s other work.

Eric Lavallée

Eric Lavallée is the founder, CEO, editor-in-chief, film journalist and critic at IONCINEMA.com (founded in 2000). Eric is a regular at Sundance, Cannes and TIFF. He has a BFA in Film Studies at the Mel Hoppenheim School of Cinema. In 2013 he served as a Narrative Competition Jury Member at the SXSW Film Festival. He was an associate producer on Mark Jackson's This Teacher (2018 LA Film Festival, 2018 BFI London). In 2022 he served as a New Flesh Comp for Best First Feature at the 2022 Fantasia Intl. Film Festival. Current top films for 2022 include Tár (Todd Field), All That Breathes (Shaunak Sen), Aftersun (Charlotte Wells).