“Harsh Times,” written and directed by David Ayer (“Training Day”), is ambitious but lacks the focus and plot to make it worth your time.
The film follows Jim Davis (Christian Bale), an ex-Army Ranger who was recently discharged from the military. Still plagued by nightmares (some occurring during the day) of his former job, Jim spends the bulk of the movie trying to attain a government job that will permit him to marry his Mexican girlfriend Marta (Tammy Trull) and bring her to America.
Meanwhile, Jim’s best friend, Mike (Freddy Rodriguez), is just trying to find a job to please his longtime lawyer girlfriend, Sylvia (Eva Longoria). The two pals start out looking for jobs together, but soon slip back into a gritty life of crime.
Christian Bale finally proves that he is not perfect in every role in “Harsh Times.” While he portrays the unraveling of an ex-military man to a psychopathic perfection, his mugging around with Freddy Rodriguez is laughable. How many times can the words “dawg” and “dude” be used in one film? You’d be surprised.
Freddy Rodriguez is honest and believable in his role. His portrayal of Mike is realistic and heartbreaking. You can see that he desperately wants to do good by his girlfriend and generally be a stand-up guy, but is too easily mislead by the borderline insane antics of Jim. Some of these scenes are a little ridiculous (You half expect to hear Afroman’s “Because I Got High” playing in the background), but most are very tense as the audience wants Mike to do the right thing just as much as Mike does.
Eva Longoria, though not in the film for an extended period of time, does some solid work. Her character is not too different from Gabrielle Solis, the ex-model diva housewife Longoria portrays on ABC’s “Desperate Housewives.” Longoria’s Sylvia is just as demanding and witty, but she’s much more motivated, intelligent, and work-oriented that Gabby could ever be. In any case, Longoria’s always astounding beauty is a breath of fresh air in this grimy portrayal of drugs, violence, and crime.
The writing is often predictable and silly, placing the men in situations that the audience can see coming from a mile away. The editing is sharp and well done, however. The quick, jarring flashbacks to Jim’s military past juxtaposed with his life altering decisions is especially striking.
For the most part, however, “Harsh Times” is randomly violent, hopelessly bleak, and painfully obvious. While a few moments are engaging, most of the film will leave you checking your watch.
