 | |  | | Media: | HD DVD | | Country: | USA | | Studio: | Weinstein Co. | | Cert: | R | | Discs: | 1 |
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Screen captures are for illustration purposes and may not originate from the item reviewed. | | Harsh Times Review| HD DVD review written by Simon Crust, published 19th June 2007 | Supplied for review by  | Déjà vu, the feeling, not the film, is an odd thing. That inexplicable feeling that we have experienced an event before. That’s the feeling I had whilst watching Harsh Times. And I never had to look far to discover where that feeling had come from, it was embossed on the front cover of the disc: From the creator of Training Day; David Ayer. A cursory glace will yield, what on the surface appears to be two very different films, but their underlying structure is almost identical. Two men, ride around in a car with extended monologues heading towards a confrontation. However, they do differ in their overall story; Harsh Times revolves around Jim Luther Davis (Christian Bale), an ex-soldier trying to get himself a job with the police and Mike Alonzo (Freddy Rodríguez) his best friend who is also looking for a job. The film follows these two misfits for three days on their self destructive journey. It is a very simple plot and has none of the twist, turns or over all arc that Training Day has and as such centres itself firmly on the dynamic of the two main characters.
It is clear from the outset that Jim and Mike share a bond beyond that of friendship, brotherhood or love. But it is not a relationship conducive to either of them; rather it is extremely destructive, each manages to bring out the worst in the others character; neither can say no and each act drives them further down the path to oblivion. Jim is extremely volatile and played with wild abandonment by Bale. His character, an ex-soldier suffering from the atrocities he has seen and committed is one step away from insanity. His goal in life is to marry his Mexican girlfriend and move her to the States whilst working for the police. He overcomes any obstacle with a furious passion, much as a soldier is trained to overcome fear. Tailoring his behaviour to suit the needs of the situation he finds himself in, be that steadfast soldier at his job interviews, street smart petty gangster or husband to be, but in each act he maintains the same wild eyes. This complex character is handed with relish by Bale, one of the premier actors of our time, whose interpretation borders on the edge at all times. That is not to say it is one of his best performances, in actuality it only reaches average; don’t get me wrong, I can’t imagine anyone else playing this character, but it did come off as a ‘Batman on steroids’ performance. A large part is due to the awful dialogue that plagues the film; that street slang “homey, yo dog” talk that proliferates in Ayer’s films. However, in the climax, Bale shows us the inner madness that has driven the character throughout the film, here is where his performance really shines and it is on his shoulders that the film is carried.
Freddy Rodríguez as Mike Alonzo on the other hand has to play second fiddle, simply because Bale is so over the top for most of the film, his understated performance is what holds the reality of the pair’s bond. His character is a far simpler affair, though how he manages to hold onto a stable relationship with the antics he gets up to does, at times, stretch credibility. His reaction to Jim’s obvious madness is one of calm resonance, even at the end when the ‘homey code’ was broken and he has to make a split decision he sides with his friend, and it is a believable choice too, irrespective of the logic.
So, whilst there is much to praise in the performances of the two central characters, the film itself does suffer a few flaws. Principally its replication of the Training Day structure, even though this film was written before that Oscar winner. There are huge segments of the film when Jim and Mike drive around in there car and wax lyrical about the world. But there is little focus for them, they are together to get a job, even though each is more interested in drink and drugs; their sole intent is to try and sell a gun that the pair acquired when Jim was accosted by the boyfriend of an ex-girlfriend of his. This quest leads them into many questionable situations; the script then becomes rather woolly and uses contrivance and coincidence to move forward rather than any real drive. Time and again a situation is resolved because Jim or Mike know a particular person and this leads them either in or out of trouble. After a succession of such ‘troubles’ the pair and another waif drive to Mexico, causing another huge rift between Mike and his girl; it is their journey back when Jim really becomes unhinged and things start to fall apart. I’ve mentioned the dialogue before, but I will mention it again, bad. Not only is it bad, at times it is unintelligible. Plus, and this might be just me, it sounds so juvenile and false, while it might be the language of the ‘streets’ to me it just sounds stupid and the constant bombardment became too much. Finally the film felt unfinished, not that it didn’t have a beginning, middle and ending, rather it felt like a bunch of ideas left out of another, better, script and then amalgamated together to create a ‘B’ film.
This is Ayer’s first film as director, he and cinematographer Steve Mason create a world that is down and dirty. Lighting is poor, everything has a bleached out look and the quick cutting and pans remind me of ‘documentary realism’. There is no attempt at glamorisation, the violence is quick and bloody, the tone is sombre. However, it is low budget, filmed mostly in 16mm with some hand cranked 35mm stock, when blown up to theatrical 35mm projection there is an intentional grain the gives the stock that gritty urban feel. Ayer boasts that this is the film he wanted to make, there was no studio interference, that can only be a good thing for a director, however when the result is as unfocused and meandering as this result, then perhaps a little studio advice might have gone a little way to tightening up what is essentially a good film trying to escape. Like the title I found the film harsh, to both sit through and understand; I really wanted to like the film, it has all the right elements, but, like Jim’ head, something is not quite right; it is only the inevitable conclusion that make this one keep its head above the water.
Movie score : 5 | | 1,127 word review written by Simon Crust. |  | To comment on this review, click here and post a reply.
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| 1 Harsh Times |  | 1 USA | HD DVD |  | 12/06/07 | | | 4 | 6 | 6 |
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