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HARSH TIMES |
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By : Suzanne Philips |
Movie Reviews List | |
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Harsh Times Written and Directed by David Ayer (TRAINING DAY (writer)) Starring Christian Bale, Freddy Rodríguez ("Six Feet Under"), Eva Longoria Rated R Running Time 2 hours Former Army Ranger Jim Davis (Christian Bale) returns to his old Los Angeles neighborhood after being discharged from the Army. He intends to get a job with the L.A.P.D. and marry his Mexican girlfriend and bring her to America. Davis' pal Mike (Freddy Rodriguez) is searching for a job after being laid off from his job with a software company due to outsourcing. Mike is feeling the strain on his marriage to Sylvia (Eva Longoria) as her career is on the upswing and his is clearly going nowhere. Things start to deteriorate for the pair as the slip back into their old habits of drugs, women and guns that are so prevalent in their neighborhood. Writer/Director David Ayer has had some success in the past writing gritty, crime dramas with a neighborhood flair. He does accurately capture a certain authenticity of life in the poor, ethnic areas of L.A. The plot of HARSH TIMES, however, is a bit bogged down by the lack of any actual action. There are many times in this film that Ayer leads the viewer to believe that something big is going to happen and strings them along, building up their anticipation. Then....no payoff. In many scenes, nothing actually happens. The directing style is really sub-par, no consistency at all. This is Ayer's first time in the directing chair, so his future works might improve in this area. While Rodriguez and Longoria are both good in their individual roles, they have absolutely no chemistry at all and the scenes with them as a couple really don't work. They all seem terribly forced. Rodriguez seems more like a younger brother than a lover. Longoria even has more chemistry with Bale, whose character she loathes in the film! While I haven't painted a good picture of this film or given anyone a reason to see it....hold on....I am going to give you one reason.....Christian Bale. Bale is arguably one of the best younger actors working today and always turns in an outstanding performance, but he is riveting in this film. He has captured the psychosis of the character but still plays him in such a nuanced way, that they audience can identify the emotions that cause him to do some of the crazy things he does. Even though this is not a good film overall, it is certainly worth seeing just to see the brilliance that Bale puts onscreen. 2 out of 5 |
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