Another 20 Underrated Movies You Have To See

Some films work because of the sum of their parts. The vast array of performers involved can often push a good film into the realm of greatness, as exemplified in The Departed, Ocean's Eleven and Unforgiven, all of which are examples of films that may not have been as successful had the ensemble cast not be so brilliant.

This idea is also true of Scott Cooper's 2013 drama, Out of the Furnace, which has some serious talent to boost the slightly cliched but generally exciting plot to new heights.

Christian Bale stars as Russel Baze, an ex-con whose goal in life is to protect his war veteran brother, Rodney (Casey Affleck) from harm. After Rodney goes missing after a big-money bare-knuckle boxing match, Russel does all he can to get to the bottom of what happened. Along the way, he comes face-to-face with the town's violent crime boss, the local chief of police, and his old flame.

The cast is rounded out (deep breath) by Willem Dafoe, Woody Harrelson, Zoe Saldana, Forest Whitaker, Tom Bower and Sam Shepard, all of whom are excellent in their respective roles. The tone of the film is quite bleak and often veers into some dark territory, but thanks to a brilliant pace and some major plot shake-ups, Out of the Furnace makes for a spectacular drama with an awful lot to show off.