Reviews of Harsh Times 2006
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Traumatised ex-marine Christian Bale is the focus of this rather depressing film set in L.A. A loose cannon that is intent on joining some sort of law enforcement organisation he seems to have a death wish of sorts and comes across as a bullying misogynist.
Hanging around with his Hispanic best friend he goes from one confrontation to another as his violent streak comes to the fore.
The usual L.A. gangland backdrop of vicious,violent,drug fuelled Hispanics gets the full "Training… -
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Christian Bale plays a disturbed war veteran disturbingly well. He's very convincing as a border line psychopath who's applying to the police force and special drug unit. I'll say that again, he applying for the police force!
My major criticism is the level of swearing for the beginning hour. Swearing is cool when you're 9 yrs old. But then some of us get educated and our vocabulary expands beyond 4 letter words. My point is, it's hard to listen to and completeley unnecessary.
Overall the acting is very good, the storyline is good - not great.
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David Ayer the writer of the dark LA-set crime dramas Training Day and Dark Blue (as well as SWAT and The Fast and the Furious, but hey you have to pay the bills right?) makes his debut with this equally dark LA-set anti-buddy drama.
Jim (Christian Bale) is a discharged veteran of US campaign in Afghanistan. He suffers from relentless combat nightmares and is desperate to join the LAPD so he can marry his Mexican girlfriend and legitimately bring her…
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The budget shows and the filmaking could have been better, but all in all not bad
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Not really an original story: 2 homies (yo dog) trying to survive (drinking, doing drugs and trying to find a job) the LA streets. Despite this rather uninspired starting point, most of the scenes do really work, helped by some decent acting of the leads.
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The way the story unfolds piece by piece, it reveals how much the mind can go wrong, even if your lovable person is in front of you, you can point the gun at him, in these Harsh Times.
Plot becomes more and more complicated as it reaches towards climax. -
This guy loves making films about dudes driving around a fucked up city. Bale is solid as some kind of merc with PTSD who just gets drunk and fucked up on drugs. It's basically a dysfunctional buddy cop movie, but they aren't cops.
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Bale is hilarious and exceptional.
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A fascinating portrayal of instability and how law enforcement can attract those who should never wear a badge of any sort. David Ayers continues to impress me as a filmmaker and it was nice to revisit this outing.