User Reviews

This movie may give you more deja vu than Deja Vu (review coming soon). If you have felt this way while watching this movie then you have probably already seen Training Day. While this is David Ayer's directorial debut, he wrote, produced, acted and even performed stunts in Training Day.

The movie revolves around the shenanigans of two long time friends, who are reunited in the streets of their old stomping ground, the streets of Los Angeles. Jim (Christian Bale) is a returning Army ranger looking for a job. Mike (Freddy Rodríguez) is also looking for a job to appease his girlfriend (Eva Longoria). Together they spend their days getting high, getting loaded and generally slacking off. They also end up committing some petty crimes.

The conflict in the movie arises when they meet up with their past, acquaintances and their baggage. Jim is a hard headed, hard case with more trauma from his service than he is willing to admit. Mike is in a transitional period and easily influenced. Tough decisions are hard to make and it is easy to procrastinate. We all do it.

Much like Training Day, you see the situation deteriorating quickly. For most of the movie you are expecting something bad to happen, but each postponement makes the movie that much more interesting. I did not expect much from this movie. I was expecting another "Sentinel" or "SWAT". Even though the ending is quite anti-climactic, brisk, and mostly predictable, it did not deter from the movie.

The perspective of the movie is heavily masculine, with the feminine characters being mostly man-handled. Even as a successful lawyer, Sylvia (Mike's girlfriend) is still branded. Even though woman are apparently secondary to men, they are somehow responsible for holding everything together. This is more likely a reflection of the attitude of the "street" than of the director himself.

It is finally nice to see Christian Bale laughing, getting high and drunk in a movie. He then reverts back to the brooding, dark character he is known for. He is quite due for a comedy part. One in which he is not the straight man. I think it would vastly improve his perception. Overall, the movie is a good first step. I am eagerly awaiting to see what else David Ayer can pull off. I know he can do Los Angeles inner city. But what else can he do?

-Celluloid Rehab

Harsh Times - in your face action flick with Christian Bale as a messed up vet who is trying to get a job with the cops.Although this movie has some quotable lines and laughs - it left me shaken-sure there are some very over the top moments of insanity-but Bale commits to the character so much that I buy it.The first part of this movie plays as though Bevis and Butthead had grown up and instead of looking for work they pull scams and get high.Freddy Rodriguez does a stellar job as the friend who likes his buddy- but is worried about the consequences.Eva Longoria is perfect as the ambitious wife of Rodguez and Terry Crewes is fine in his cameo. I like the movie - but it really left me shaken. A-

An ex-Army Ranger, Jim Davis(Christian Bale), is still haunted by nightmares from his over zealous military career. He is seeking a job with LAPD, so he can earn enough money to bring his girlfriend(Tammy Tull)from Mexico and start a family. With his application turned down, he teams with his friend Mike(Freddy Rodriguez)also hunting employment. Bored, jobless and angry, the pair cruise the rough streets of LA recklessly. Mike's girlfriend(Eva Longoria)is almost certain the two buddies will accept the invitation of drugs and violence. Jim actually gets a position with Homeland Security and before heading to South America, he wants to see his girlfriend and party in Mexico. Thus the trigger for all hell to break loose. This movie is pretty damn dark from the get go. Not just rough around the edges. Everything that can go wrong...will go wrong. Kudos to director David Ayer.

Let me preface this by saying that I am definitely a fan of Bale's previous work- particularly American Psycho, and I thought training day was awesome. I also live in LA if that means anything. I'm aware of the fact that trailers are often deceiving, but judging from this movie's trailer- I truly believed that the film showed promise. Knowing this, you may be asking yourself, "how is it possible for a motion picture to contain so much suck in only 2 hrs?" I honestly don't know how it's possible but, they were able to do it. There's not just one thing that makes this movie unbearable- so let me highlight a few of elements that did so. First of all this movie should have been titled something slightly more relevant, e.g.: "stupid people looking for a job in LA", or maybe the less wordy, "jobhunt". Was I the only one who thought from the trailer that Bale was actually going to become a cop? Secondly, the most common misconception in criticism I'm hearing is that the acting is bad, but the fact of the matter is that all of the actors did a bar-none job of portraying stupid, unlikable people. I don't consider myself a saint, but I could not relate to, or even feel sympathy for any of the characters. These are the kind of people who make the world a sh*tty place to live in: corrupt, lazy, lying, drinking-while-driving, gun-toting, dope-smoking, misogynistic, anti-intellectual, selfish, ignorant pieces of sh*t. These people corrupt the military, the police force, school-systems, essentially everything they touch, and yet I felt that these characters were being glorified throughout the whole film, except for towards the end when Bale goes nuts; however it is at this point that I felt Rodriguez stepped-up to being the hero. The thing that bugs me the most is that Rodriguez's character was able to run home after literally murdering his best-friend in the face, make-out with Eva Longoria, and pretend like everything was going to end up fine. I'm sorry- while I don't doubt the rejuvenating qualities of swapping spit with Ms. Longoria, I think its effect was slightly exaggerated, because I don't really think that it could eliminate the horror of killing your best friend. Most disturbing to me is the fact that people not only enjoyed this movie, they loved it! People are already screaming Oscar-worthy, when the truth of the matter is that at best this movie should have gone straight to DVD, and I'm being generous. In all honesty, this movie should never have seen the light of day. I highly regret not walking out of the film, as did two of my friends who went to the movie with me. Of higher priority than 8 dollars, is time, and if you value either I urge you to avoid this movie at all costs.

With all the hoopla surrounding "Harsh Times" and it being marketed as a sort of "Training Day" clone my guess is that many people might be fooled into thinking that this film is something it's not. In one sense the two films are almost totally unrelated, but on a literal note "Harsh Times" is David Ayer's "Training Day" in that it's the first film in which he's sat in the director's chair. As a writer we've seen Ayer both hit (Training Day and Dark Blue) and miss (S.W.A.T, TFATF and U-571). So how do things pan out when he writes and directs? In terms of the plot Ayer gives us a pretty simple story but it's mixed in with complex characters who face complex decisions. Army Ranger returns from Afghanistan and faces the decision or moving forward with his career, taking up a simple life with his girlfriend in Mexico, or returning to his old gang banger ways.

To tell you the truth this film is nowhere near as explosive as "Training Day" was. I was expecting a lot of "pop pop, bang bang" but instead I was given something deeper. Christian Bale and Freddy Rodriguez both gave outstanding performances and while Bale is more likely to get most of the attention Rodriguez's performance should not go unnoticed. The two complemented one another on screen and their character's contrasting personalities made for some excellent "good brother, bad brother" chemistry. After this film I'd hope that Rodriguez gets the attention he deserves. Eva Longoria also gave a good performance but her role here was much smaller than I had thought it'd be and her name was probably used to draw more fans into theaters. Bale on the other hand once again demonstrates that he truly is one of Hollywood's most versatile and focused actors. Here Bale gives us a horrific look at what war can do to a person. At times he's focused and disciplined willing to do anything for his dream job. Other times he's madly in love with the girl of his dreams and her simple way of life in Mexico, sometimes he's just plain psychotic and toward the end of the film we see a man beginning to break down. The amazing thing is that he gives us such a complex character and all the while we still see him as one man and realize how messed up his life must be for him to go from being madly in love with her, to sticking a gun in his girlfriend's face. Whereas Alonzo in "Training Day" just plain didn't care about anyone but himself and you begin to hate him, Bale's performance here makes certain that you never stop caring about Davis despite the fact that he goes off the deep end on more than a few occasions. One scene where he throws a beer bottle at an elderly man's car had my eyes wide open. Powerful stuff and just plain great acting.

As for Ayer's direction, well it's not always a smooth transition when you go from writing to directing but for a directorial debut this is a pretty solid film. If there's anything he needs to work on it's the pacing and some of the dialogue. There were times when the story dragged on and slowed too much even for me, and I'm generally a fan of directors who include "unnecessary" scenes that give us additional almost excessive insight as to what motivates or drives a character a la Michael Mann films. The pacing would pick up and I'd think "here we go" only to be dragged down as Ayer took me in a completely different direction. As much as I dislike Fuqua as a director, his only good film (Training Day) demonstrated that he had more experience behind the camera than Ayer. As for the dialogue, the overuse of the word "dude" annoyed me at times. Authentic yes, but there comes a point where being too authentic can become a bit annoying. Expanding the character's vocabularies might kill a bit of the realism but it'd probably help on the big screen.

These two flaws however are no match for everything Ayer gets right. The character development in this film is rich and deep. The cinematography immerses you in Los Angeles and gives L.A. that "afternoon dirty orange sky" gritty feel. The shots of the city Skyline inserted into the film here and there really set the scene and the tone of the film. The flashes and filters employed when Bale goes off the deep end really wake you up and put you on the edge of your seat. While the action is spread thin throughout the film when Ayer wants to hit you he hits hard. The opening scene in Afghanistan set to a hip-hop score knocks you back into your seat and lets you know that you're in for a ride. And the extremely well shot shootout at the end uses some stylish slow motion effects and keeps you guessing as to where the bullets are going to end up. Seeing the progression from "Dark Blue" to "Training Day" and now "Harsh Times" is proof of Ayer's progression as a writer. But while Ayer learned to grab your attention as a writer, as a director he must now learn to keep a hold on it. Harsh Times isn't a perfect film but it's a great one nonetheless coupled with outstanding performances from the two leads and a pretty solid first outing for writer turned director David Ayer. Up the pacing, expand the character's vocabularies and give us more of that showy cinematography in the form of a bit more action and the next one could very well be a perfect 10. For now 7.5/10 rounded up to an 8. He didn't score a perfect 10, but Ayer definitely passed his Training Day.