Back in 2009, Scott Cooper made Crazy Heart, a film that’s one of the most powerful of that year and gave Jeff Bridges the best performance of his entire career. Four years later, this amazing filmmaker has not disappointed in the slightest with his newest film, Out of the Furnace, contains a fantastic ensemble cast, a suspenseful atmosphere and an engrossing script. With his newest feature, director Scott Cooper has crafted a terrific film that will twist your emotions to no end.

Rodney (Casey Affleck) and Russell Baze (Christian Bale) are just trying to make it through their small town lives as well as they can, with each having their own trauma to sort through. Rodney has been scarred from what he saw in his military duty in Iraq, while Russell has just done some time in prison. Still, things seem at least bearable, until Rodney signs up to fight for Curtis DeGroat (Woody Harrelson) a man who, to put it lightly, is mercilessly cruel. When things go south, it’s up to Russell to set things right.

I don’t think there’s many actors who can truly be called chameleons these days, but Christian Bale is more than qualified for such a designation. As Russell Baze, he conveys years of turmoil and struggling through even just a cursory glance towards his brother. While the dialogue he’s given (which is sharply written I should note) is superb, it’s scenes where he’s barely doing anything at all that truly dazzle me, namely a scene where he confronts his girlfriend Lena (Zoe Saldana) after his prison sentence.

The rest of the cast (a who’s who of great names such Willem Dafoe and Sam Shepard) puts in some expert work, especially Woody Harrelson as a villain who manages to be both hammy and terrifying through all of his screentime (although his very first scene set at a drive-in theatre does feel a little unneeded). All of these cast members are under the watchful eye of Cooper, who brings something unique to even the most stagnant scenes in terms of directing.  The script (also written by Cooper) makes the film’s emotional rollercoaster of sorts seem to go by in a blink of an eye, despite giving out tons of depth-filled characters and scenes of such tremendous tension one can barely stand to see the scene unfold. The best part about the screenplay though may be the brutal ending; a very daring move on the part of Cooper to end the film the way he did.

Almost an antithesis to the jolly Christmas spirit that’s permeating the world right now, the word dark doesn’t really do Out of The Furnace justice in terms of it’s tone; I’d say bleak is more appropriate if anything. Showing the truly horrendous parts of the human race in all of it’s despicable glory, every single person here on the cast and crew seems to have given this movie their all in order to make sure this film turned out amazing. Such hard work has paid off handsomely; Out Of The Furnace is bold cinema more than worth seeing.