Film Review

05 July 2009 00:53 BST

Harsh Times

Directed by David Ayer, out now at cinemas, starring Christian Bale, Freddy Rodriguez, and Eva Longoria, running time 120 minutes.

In a nutshell

Drug trafficking. Fighting. Mexican gang bangers.

What's it all about?

Jim (Christian Bale) is a veteran from the Iraq war (the most recent one) struggling to find a role for himself in modern day Los Angeles. After the LAPD rejects his application, blowing his plan to settle down and get a visa for his Mexican girlfriend (or "import her ass" as he puts it), he goes on an almighty bender with pal Mike (Freddy Rodriguez).

Mike is living off girlfriend Sylvia (Eva Longoria) but with Jim for company he finds little time for job interviews and instead cruises through the LA underbelly getting stoned and drinking beer. The duo find time to steal a drug dealer's stash, witness a brutal murder and get into a fight with a Mexican gang who they then rob, before leaving some fake messages on Mike's answering machine so Sylvia will think he's lined up some interviews.

Things take a more sinister turn when Jim gets himself recruited by a shady government agency that wants to send him to Colombia to take on the drug cartels. With Mike also having found a job, they head down to Mexico to celebrate where the madness goes into overdrive.

Who's in it?

Christian Bale does his best as the increasingly deranged Jim, but even he can't make the ridiculous dialogue seem realistic. Freddy Rodriguez also turns in a decent performance as long-suffering pal Mike, but is equally burdened with cringe-worthy lines. Eva Longoria's Sylvia, meanwhile, will help with the post Wisteria Lane rebranding.

As an example…

After an attempted booty call goes awry Jim ends up fighting four Mexican gang bangers (admittedly one of them is a woman, although that doesn't stop him punching her in the forehead) on his own and actually tells Mike not to help.

In another 'highlight', he uses a turkey baster to, err, get vinegar into his bladder in order to pass a urine test at the Department of Homeland Security.

Likelihood of a trip to the Oscars

There have been comparisons between Harsh Times and the excellent Training Day, but Bale, while an excellent actor, doesn't get near – or isn't allowed to get near – Denzel Washington's frankly more frightening Alonso Harris. No red carpet treatment but likely to make a few alternative DVD collections.

What the others say

"Shot and acted on an adrenaline rush, Harsh Times has the free structure and intensity of a true indie film, but is sometimes just a little off-balance." Alan Morrison, Empire.

"While the action is fast-paced throughout, the sheer amount of outlandish incident and implausible coincidence needed to keep the story in motion ultimately proves too hard to buy." Neil Smith, Total Film.

So is it any good?

It's certainly not as good as it should have been. This film has a strong cast and a decent set-up, but it is really let down by the script. From the opening exchange the conversations between the leads are hard to take seriously and while this goes some way to building Jim's character it ends up becoming a cringe-inducing distraction.

The "what up, dog?" patter is so forced at times that even two actors of Rodriguez and Bale's quality are unable to make it seem believable. The best bits of the film come when the lame homey dialogue stops and the action starts. Most of these highlights involve us watching Jim's ridiculous and increasingly dangerous behaviour, which propels the pair from drug and booze-induced brawling to the inevitable tragic crescendo.

Yet along the way, we can't help hoping Jim will somehow find some redemption. On the one hand, he is a dangerous sociopath who is perhaps best off shooting drug barons in Colombia, but on the other he's a victim, spewed out by the military and struggling to find a place for himself in civilian life.

His girlfriend in Mexico offers him a way out of the destructive spiral he has been on probably since he left the army. And it's sad in many ways that he feels compelled instead to return to the battlefield, because despite not wanting to sit next to him on the bus, there are times when we all rely on the Jims of this world to do our dirty work.

6/10

Adam Barber

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