"Out of Furnace" has finally premiered at the AFI Fest after several months of anticipation.
Starring Christian Bale, Zoe Saldana, Woody Harrelson, Casey Affleck, Willem Dafoe and Forest Whitaker, the film tells the story of Russell, who takes matters into his own hands to find justice when Rodney Baze mysteriously disappears and law enforcement fails to follow through.
The movie has been generating Oscar buzz, particularly for Bale. The film is director Scott Cooper's first movie since "Crazy Heart" garnered three Oscar nominations in 2009. The movie premiered at AFI to a rousing standing ovation with critics generally giving it positive reviews.
Charlie Schmidlin from the Playlist gave the film a B and stated, "Loyalty and consequence collide in the 'Crazy Heart' director's sophomore feature...but while those themes eventually result in payoffs that are noticeably muted and confused, the film is luckily powered by a powerful trio of performances at its core..."
Todd McCarthy from the Hollywood Reporter also gave the movie a positive review and stated "A solid, well-acted tale about how the bad steps in when jobs fall away in the Rust Belt."
Scott Foundas from Variety also agreed and wrote "'Crazy Heart' director Scott Cooper's sophomore feature is a powerfully acted descent into the hellfire of rusted-out steel town America."
However, not everyone was so positive. Alfonso Duralde from the Wrap gave the movie a negative review: "Yes, the working class is bearing the brunt of an inequitable economic system, and yes, the treatment of our returning soldiers from the last decade of war has been disgraceful, but the film has nothing of substance say about any of this," wrote Duralde.
"Out of the Furnace" is rated R and will be released on Dec. 6 by Relativity.