Give Christian Bale a break, because he won't take one (with video) - Ottawa Citizen

LOS ANGELES — Between his portrayal of Batman in The Dark Knight Rises and Moses in Exodus, Christian Bale decided to decompress Bale style. Instead of taking a well-deserved vacation between blockbusters, the hyper-active Oscar winner signed to play the lead role in the low-budget Out of the Furnace. Obsession drives him, but through his jet-lag-induced haze, the 39-year-old was humble enough to put things in a journeyman perspective. “I am just happy somebody wants to hire me,” said Bale who arrived at the Beverly Hills hotel hours earlier from the Almeria, Spain, set of Exodus. Out of the Furnace is that important to him. In it, Bale plays Russell Baze, a Pennsylvania steelworker trying to do the right thing for his girlfriend (Zoe Saldana) and his Iraqi war veteran brother (Casey Affleck). After spending time in prison for vehicular manslaughter, Baze returns home to Braddock, Penn., only to discover things have changed. His girlfriend has hooked up with the town’s police chief (Forest Whitaker) and his brother’s mixed up with a low-life, psychopathic crime boss (Woody Harrelson). Baze seeks revenge when the brother, who earns money bare-knuckle boxing, goes missing after a match. Adding to the gritty tone of the movie was writer-director Scott Cooper’s decision to film in and around Braddock using some of the locals as extras. The Baze role doesn’t necessarily scream out Bale, but Cooper was convinced the Welsh-born, London-raised actor would fill the bill. [caption id="attachment_360559" align="aligncenter" width="680"] In Out of the Furnace, Christian Bale, left, plays a Pennsylvania steelworker trying to do the right thing for his girlfriend[/caption] “This is the story of man who works in a blast furnace, but deals with themes of justice, retribution and courage,” said Cooper, the former actor who made his filmmaker debut directing Jeff Bridges to an Oscar in 2009’s Crazy Heart. Initially, schedules conspired against the collaboration. The Dark