counter

DVD Review: Harsh Times

« The Inbox: Chris and Mollie, Alex Delivery, Born Ruffians and Strata
D Thompson’s Pandora Box: Scooby Doo, Pirates, Dredd and Best Foot Forward »

By: Rustycat | in: Movies |

Harsh Times

Last month Harsh Times, the second coming of director David Ayer (Training Day), was released on DVD. The first fifteen minutes caught me a bit off-guard. I felt as if I’m watching some indie experimental film where all the shots seem as if they’ve been captured by an amateur camera man and edited later that day. After those initial minutes, it hit me all of a sudden: “this is one of the best films I’ve seen in a while”. So real, so raw – killing someone actually means something, it’s not just a Hollywood killing spree that means nothing to the viewer after two deaths.

The plot revolves around two best friends, Jim (Christian Bale), a haunted Gulf War vet, and his best friend Mike (Freddy Rodriguez). They hang around the bad side of Los Angeles trying to find themselves through nagging wives, job applications and a heck of a lot of violence. Jim is having a hard time getting over his Gulf War nightmares as he tries to find work on the LAPD and get back to his girlfriend in Mexico, Marta (Tammy Trull). Mike, on the hand, hasn’t really got an agenda, all he wants is to get drunk and find a job so his nagging wife Sylvia, played oddly enough by Desperate Housewife, Eva Longoria, will leave him be.

Harsh Times

The look and feel, and the premise of two guys driving around all day and getting into trouble is reminiscient of Training Day. Saying that, Grand Theft Auto also comes to mind…

Christian Bale has definitely proven time and time again that he’s one of the most promising actors of our generation. Taking this role is bit of an odd choice seeing as all his latest movies are big Hollywood productions like Batman and The Prestige. But he manages to bring his personal touch into the mix and give his character that dark unforeseeable flare that he had back in American Psycho.

And as D Thompson would put it, Verdict: Good Film, definitely worth the rent.

Watch the trailer:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gjj6jSxdBrk


[Subscribe to this feed]


Posted on April 23, 2007

Comments

2 Responses to “DVD Review: Harsh Times”

  1. geekgasmic.com on April 23rd, 2007 5:03 pm

    DVD Review: Harsh Times

    Rustycat over at the Plugg does an excellent review of the DVD release of Harsh Times, starring Christian Bale.


  2. SR on April 23rd, 2007 7:11 pm

    Neat! I thought the premise/trailer was interesting. Now, I’ll add it to my netflix queue


Leave a Reply