For Your Consideration 2013: Out Of The Furnace

Even though Christian Bale is marketing “Out Of The Furnace” more than the other strong Oscar contender he’s apart of “American Hustle”, there could be a few reasons for that including that “Out Of The Furnace” comes out sooner and could probably actually use Bale’s help in pushing it into absolutely any category, which is saying a lot. Jeff Bridges has an Oscar from his work with director Scott Cooper on “Crazy Heart” and Maggie Gyllenhaal was nominated. The Original Song won the other Oscar for Cooper’s film, but “Out Of The Furnace” doesn’t seem to have the wherewithal to match that film. That being said, Christian Bale, Casey Affleck, and Forest Whitaker are all major Oscar contenders, so depending on how well this film does in the critics’ circles and with the general public, it could get just the right push. I compare this film to “Prisoners” of this year, which, for all intents and purposes, could be Oscar contenders any other year. But with the deck already stacked, films that fall slightly out of the circle of what we consider Oscar fodder are completely kept off the reservation. But Bale is currently doing the circuits for this film and obviously we’ll all know more when it hits theaters, but at this point in time, I wouldn’t count on seeing this one in the nominations.

On a side note, notice Ridley Scott and Leonardo DiCaprio credited as producers, which would make this interesting if the film were to defy the odds and end up being nominated for Best Picture.

FOR YOUR CONSIDERATION IN THE FOLLOWING CATEGORIES: