Harsh Times

Pros: Great Acting, strong writing, interesting characters, suspenseful, intense.
Cons: Small details overlooked.

I watched Harsh Times last night.  Luckily I didn't read any of the reviews before settling on this film because I probably would not have watched it.  Reading the synopsis for this film, I was iffy about whether I would enjoy it or ...

Pros: ?
Cons: disjointed urban nihilism, unimaginative dialogue delivered unbelevably, and final flood of sentimentality

Freddy Rodríguez's character Rico was my favorite on "Six Feet Under." Rico was dominated by his wife Vanessa (Justina Machado) who exacted a heavy price for his straying. "Harsh Times" was made around the end of "Six Feet Under" in  2005. In ...

Pros: strong acting, suspenseful, solid directing
Cons: ending is abrupt, lacks direction sometimes

Before The Dark Knight catapulted Christian Bale into the spotlight, he was probably best known for his method acting in intense dramas like American Psycho and action flicks like Equilibrium.  Harsh Times highlights Bale’s strengths and ...

Pros: Christian Bale
Cons: Horrible Story, Horrible Dialogue, Horrible Acting, Horrible Movie

Alright. Where do I begin?... Christian Bale is a kick-your-butt great actor. American Psycho was freaking great. The Machinist was unbelievably talented. He took the story of Batman, blew it up, crushed it, lit it on fire, destroyed it from its very ...

Pros: Christian Bale and Freddie Rodriguez buddy portrayal hits the spot. The script was tight.
Cons: Violence and Eva Longeria.

Cast: Jim – Christian Bale; Mike – Freddie Rodriguez; Sylvia – Eva Longeria In Jim, we have a loud-mouth, pot-smoking, dope-user, enraged cussing ex-Ranger now unemployed cruising the L.A. streets looking for action that will bring him ...

Pros: Mexican culture was heavy in this film, and it was used appropriately.
Cons: Some may not enjoy the heavy amount of violence, foul language, and explicit mutilation.

"Harsh Times" is the personification of how one man can become infinitely distorted by violence involvement in war. It shows fully, the dementia and desensitised state of someone who returns to the real world, after committing violent atrocities.

Christian Bale brilliantly played Jim, an ex-army ranger, who fought in Iraq. He was splendid in displaying how a person can be fighting madness inside, but in the exterior displays a man of solid composure. His intensity in this film is impeccable, depicting insane tenacity in subtle ways.

Freddy Rodriguez was not as colossal. Yet, he was significantly solid as Bale's brother-like confidant, named Mike.


These aforementioned actors created a fusion of brotherly love, that really set the stage, for our emotional involvement. The character interactions are fluid and very much indicative of what a deep friendship is like and the hardships involved.


Even if not all aspects are realistic, it assembles firm points about relationships and post war mental health problems.


In the end, a violent story of two old buddies doing drugs and acting wild in South Central Los Angeles.. creates the perfect story for how a War Killer, can go NutZo in the real world.


- ZeN

Pros: good looking cast, it was a free rental for me
Cons: bad acting, shallow plot, no real action sequence, too long for the quality of content

Okay, I love Christian Bale in most of the movies he is in, but this one crashed and burned in my opinion. He was totally unbelievable in his character. He is supposed to be 26 years old in the film, which itself is a laugh. He's this ex-Army Ranger with a slew of credentials, but a hoodlum at the same time. He speaks Spanish and is in love with a Mexican national one minute, and cruising the streets for women the next. There were just too many contradictions in the characters for me. I could not get over his slang, and bad accent he had through 85% of the film, and then back to normal. The plot is at best mediocre, and the acting shabby. I kept waiting for the action to start and some blood pumping scenes, but alas, they never came. The very ending was the best part of the whole movie because that meant it was over! Total waste of time if you ask me.

Pros: Great Characters.
Cons: The moral of the story is....

Edgy LA setting - good script. Freddie Rodriguez shines in this role. Christian Bale tempers this part with shades of American Psycho - although some scenes seem a bit forced. Violent drama that we know won't end well - definately worth seeing.