Hollywood has a history of celebrating blue collar workers – people at the lower end of the income spectrum; people struggling to realise the elusive American Dream or simply fighting the injustices brought on by corporate America.
From the 1940s classic The Grapes of Wrath via the likes of Norma Rae (1979) to 1983’s Silkwood, these films depict ordinary folk in their daily struggles, many of whom are more relatable than the glitzy side of American life so often represented in movies.
Out of the Furnace is one such film. Christian Bale and Casey Affleck star as brothers Russell and Rodney Baze, from Braddock, Pennsylvania, a town that has been home for generations of steel workers. Elder brother Russell has followed in that tradition, while Rodney joined the army hoping to seek a better life.
They are the brothers at the centre of the movie from acclaimed writer and director Scott Cooper (who in 2009 directed Jeff Bridges to an Academy Award in Crazy Heart). As with that film, Cooper unflinchingly explores the darker side of the American psyche, through the eyes of the Baze brothers, ordinary men who throughout the course of the film take decisions that define who they really are.
These films depict ordinary folk in their daily struggles
Out of the Furnace offers intense roles to both Bale and Affleck: the one a man who has accepted his lot in life, unlike his younger brother who returns home from the Iraq war unable to get back to normal life. The story centres around choices Rodney makes on his return from the war; choices that are dangerous, leading to his brother attempting to steer him in the right direction while coming to with the fact that the way of life they’ve always known is disappearing.
“I found it riveting,” says Bale of the script. “I read it with the enjoyment you would a book, which is very rare with a script because they’re not set up that way. There was something I couldn’t quite put my finger on that fascinated me.”
Bale was also thrilled with the casting of Affleck as his brother. “He’s formidable,” he says of Affleck. “It is one of the best performances I’ve seen in many years. The brotherhood of Russell and Rodney represents the brotherhood of America in this movie.”
Affleck was similarly drawn to the script. Like Bale, he was tremendously moved and surprised by it. “It is an unusual script. It feels very real and the stakes are very high. I immediately realised that it was unique and I wanted to be a part of it.”
Joining Bale and Affleck are Sam Shepard, Woody Harrelson, Willem Dafoe, Zoë Saldana and Forest Whitaker. The film is co-written by Cooper and Brad Ingelsby, while among the film’s producers are Leonardo di Caprio and Ridley Scott.