Harsh Times

Product Description:
Movie DVD

Amazon.com:
Bleak as its South Central Los Angeles setting, Harsh Times is like a suicidal vortex swallowing men who ought to know better but can't stop their self-destruction. Christian Bale stars as Jim Davis, a stressed-out, former Army Ranger who becomes a very bad influence on his weak-willed buddy, Mike Alvarez (Freddy Rodriguez of Six Feet Under). Together the two meander through streets at night, getting drunk and stoned, finding trouble for its own sake and inviting danger as a ritual of machismo bonding. Mike's wife, Sylvia (Eva Longoria), a lawyer whom Mike, working as a telemarketer, put through school, is repelled by Jim and watches in pain as her spouse chooses a downward spiral over renewal and redemption with her. When Jim's application to join the L.A. police is turned down, he leads Mike into pure anarchy. An impractical change of fortune doesn't help any, and first-time director David Ayer, who wrote the screenplay for Harsh Times years before his script for Training Day, goes to some lengths, dramatically and visually, to convey Jim's unhinged condition. The dreariness of it all, and a sense that Bale has constructed--but not exactly lived in--another in his gallery of lost, misfit souls, makes it hard to connect with this film. Still, it is hard to turn away from these desperate and dangerous characters. --Tom Keogh

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Customer Reviews

Rating: - "Harsh Times" speaks to its times.
Christian Bale is so on the edge during this whole film, it's almost like watching a great athlete in action.He's not as fluid and mesmerising as Al Pacino in "Dog Day Afternoon", but you still can't take your eyes off Bale in this film.This isn't a perfect work of art by any means, and it's hard to like two characters who roll around LA in a big car getting drunk and high all the time and talking trash.But like it or not, this story has its feet planted in street reality.I believed Bale's ... Read More
Rating: - Damage Case...
Jim (Christian Bale) is a man with a plan for his future. His dream is to be in law enforcement, to be a cop. The thing is, Jim has an anger problem. Well, ok, Jim is a seething ball of rage and fury. He is hell unleashed on the streets of LA. Now, this was a beneficial quality in his army ranger days, but not so much in civilian life. Jim is an extremely volitile individual without fear or limits. His best friend, Mike (Freddy Rodriguez) sticks by him, even when Jim begins his homicidal / suicidal ... Read More
Rating: - Christian Bale, yummy, yummy, yummy.
Anthing with Christian Bale is good.Just being able to look at him is good.He is a very diversified actor and unique.The move is wild and he pulls his part off great.
Rating: - awesome flick
I enjoyed this movie very much. I saw it on Showtime, and had to buy it. But I actually didnt watch the end of it until I purchased it. It was an unexpected ending, but powerful. I loved it very much

Rating: - The worst Bale movie to date
Let me first start by saying I am a huge fan of Christian Bale but this movie was incredible bad.Now Bale does however play a great psychopath in this film but the plot is nonexistent.Its as if the director/writer for this movie had the goal of making horrible production from the start.

Please if you want to remain a fan of Christian Bale please under no circumstances watch this movie.