Harsh Times (2006)

Yawn. Poorly Filmed Snooze Fest.

Don't Believe the Hype

It's a movie as timely as it is provocative and amazingly, for much of its running time, it is weirdly funny.

By the time the dramatic fireworks start popping off, each one feels earned.

This movie is a blast to watch. Then again, I'm a sucker for the "bad influence" buddy films, wondering how far the more reasonable of the pair will slide into Hell. And what price will be paid by one or both. This movie is not a documentary by any means. It's a testosterone-fueled male fantasy. So, if you liked David Ayers' other LA barrio cop movie, Training Day, you'll probably be thoroughly entertained by this. That goes double if you like The Shield. There's even a crossover character, Letty, from Training Day. Having had a few booze-filled good times south of the border myself, way back in the day, this film brings back good memories. Laters.

I'll start this review by using the cliché that I want my 2 hours back.This film features an assortment of detestable, unlovable characters alongside a chaotic and slow moving plot. They go places, and do things, all the while moving toward the inevitable conclusion, which by the midpoint of the movie we've already figured out. There is an underlying theme of PTSD, but if the writers were trying to garner sympathy for the soldiers who suffer from it, they sure picked an awful individual. If anything, you leave more convinced that 'Jim' (Bale's character) was an crazy a-hole BEFORE he joined the army, and at least they unleashed him on the enemy, instead of the rest of us.If you are a die hard Christian Bale fan, and think you'd enjoy him spending 2 hours talking in gang slang, and breaking every law in the book, then this is for you. For the rest of the 99.99% of us, there are much better choices. Save your life and don't watch this one.

Harsh times is a very hard film to enjoy. Its a gritty drama, filled with violence, drugs and insanity. That's why people seem to dismiss it, there's so much in-you-face material that the deeper meaning gets ignored.I can't comment too much without spoiling, so I'll just give a recommendation- watch the whole film and try too look past the IMDb score and your first impression of the characters.Bale's acting gets bashed a lot, but that's part of his character. His psychotic behavior and insanity are part of the loud subtlety of this film.Even if we ignore the plot, this movie has a great atmosphere that will appeal to people who enjoy realistic and dark portrayals of real life cities. It reminded me a lot of The Wire.

I might have been able to relate to this . A man tries to get a job and finds himself in all sorts of shenanigans. A simple enough idea but one that never really extends beyond that and you're reminded of earlier and later movies such as TAXI DRIVER and that one of Denzil Washington playing a bent cop . In fact the whole structure of HARSH TIMES resembles the one of TRAINING DAY as the two protagonists roll criminals and get up to all kinds of naughtiness Christian Bale made something of a career out of playing scary nutters and here he is at it again . For a man born in the Welsh valleys he is relatively impressive in these type of roles but the problem I've always had with Bale is that he never seems to communicate a sense of empathy to this audience members . In short his characters are unlikable and I have to say I did find HARSH TIMES very much an unlikable movie