Harsh Times (2006) Reviews
- Starring:
- Christian Bale, Freddy Rodriguez, (more)
- Director(s):
- David Ayer
- Theatrical MPAA Rating:
- R
Member Rating
My RatingAverage Ratings
7 out of 8 people found this review helpful Harsh Times is the kind of movie that storytellers make for other storytellers. It's dark, funny, poignant and tragic. If you're looking for the "feel good" movie of the year, this ain't it!
It ... Read More Harsh Times is the kind of movie that storytellers make for other storytellers. It's dark, funny, poignant and tragic. If you're looking for the "feel good" movie of the year, this ain't it!
It looks like a lot of the negative reviews are from folks who turned it off part way through. I guess that's good because if they didn't like the beginning they'd hate the ending.
I really appreciate that they let us get to know Bale's character in depth without just telling us what we need to know. This is not some dumb adventure flick, in fact it's pretty much the opposite. All the adventure in this movie is just to help us get to know the characters better.
My advice to all those people who didn't like this movie, is to rent it again and give it the time it deserves to develop. Nothing in this movie is free and it requires the full viewing in order to get anything out of it.
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0 out of 1 people found this review helpful Upon reading the other reviews i was surprised to see most were negative. Let me start of by saying this is no Bruckheimer or Pixar venture.
This is a gritty, character-based drama that will ... Read More Upon reading the other reviews i was surprised to see most were negative. Let me start of by saying this is no Bruckheimer or Pixar venture.
This is a gritty, character-based drama that will probably make some people uncomfortable. Christian Bale is a fantastic actor and this movie only reinforced that for me. The action is scarce and brief but very intense and realistic. The story revolves around the downward spiralling life of a War vet returning to the streets and trying to built his life back up on a foundation that is already crumbling. i could smell the streets, beer and cigarette smoke. You could tell Bale did a lot of homework for this role.
For those of you who said his character and dialogue were unrealistic, ive met spitting images of him in the USMC, white boys with Latino background who grew up in the barrios. In short, if you like movies that tell a story and put you in the mind of someone else, this is a GREAT MOVIE. I watched it 3 times in the week i had it. Close this Review WAS THIS REVIEW HELPFUL? Yes | No | ||
3 out of 7 people found this review helpful I'm going to do an impression from In Living Color......."Hated It!" *Put Two Cents In* This movie is absolutely so over acted that it makes you appreciate all the movies with bad acting you've ... Read More I'm going to do an impression from In Living Color......."Hated It!" *Put Two Cents In* This movie is absolutely so over acted that it makes you appreciate all the movies with bad acting you've ever seen. Is it possible that someone could overact a role that it becomes catergorized as bad acting? This movie could have done without Christian Bale and would actually be an ok movie. Streets of L.A. > Desert Storm. Close this Review WAS THIS REVIEW HELPFUL? Yes | No | ||
4 out of 10 people found this review helpful Christian Bale is the main guy (Jim Davis) and he's, once again, great. He's tight in everything he does and for this role, according to the commentary, he did his own stunts, learned quite a bit of ... Read More Christian Bale is the main guy (Jim Davis) and he's, once again, great. He's tight in everything he does and for this role, according to the commentary, he did his own stunts, learned quite a bit of Spanish and Chicano street slang and some Korean, as well as how to be an military bad guy. The real guy who made this movie so great was Freddy Rodriguez from Six Feet Under. He plays the best friend of Bale and the girlfriend to Eva and he really struggles with his life all the way through the flick. They all do. All the acting was very good as was the cinematography. The movie begins slowly and chugs along for a while, but I liked that it didn't spoon feed you everything. These guys are just living their lives but it's like they're riding the edge of a razor all the time. The ending is incredibly intense but I won't tell you what the aliens look like.
Rentability - 8/10 Close this Review WAS THIS REVIEW HELPFUL? Yes | No | ||
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