Rent Harsh Times (2005)

Tragic LA drama - Harsh Times review by CP Customer

Set in LA and featuring ex-soldier, Jim, played convincingly by Christian Bale. He is clearly a sociopath with a selfish attitude to life and friendship. Mike, his so-called best friend, gets exploited whenever Jim needs someone to rely on and make himself feel good. Jim's callous disregard for Mike's attempts to settle down and live a productive life are upsetting and frustrating, as is Mike's weakness for never having the guts to say no to his friend. It's a gritty drama, quite violent in places, with some rather unpleasant characters who it is difficult to feel any empathy for. The ending is explosive and inevetable.

It's Psycho 2!! - Harsh Times review by Kurtz

Yes, Christian Bale does damaged and dangerous again, but this offering doesn’t have an ounce of the dark humour (or diverting sex scenes) of “American Psycho”. Here, it’s all deadly serious, but after twenty minutes in the company of Bale’s character Jim and his adoring mate Mike, played by Freddy Rodriguez, you really start to weary of the constant fist-tapping and shouts of “Homeee!” None of this mateyness can conceal the fact that Bale’s Jim is a vicious bully and Mike is too spineless to make the break; even the long-suffering female characters do little to shake things up, obligingly tattooing themselves with their boyfriends’ names like primary school pencil cases and cooing such immortal feminist lines as “I would be happy to be killed by the man I love”. Most chilling is the fact that the U.S. Dept. of Homeland Security offer Jim a job, claiming he’s “just what they are looking for”- sure, put a big gun in his hand and we can all sleep easier in our beds.

A visceral Bale leads this brilliant & gripping film about loyalty and brotherhood - Harsh Times review by TB

In Christian Bale's words, after completing production on Batman Begins, he was completely burnt-out, so wanted to do something small-scale... He then signed up to play a returning veteran with PTSD, who goes back onto the streets & gets mixed up with the gangs and violence he left behind all those years ago. It is an environment David Ayer (the writer/director) knew well: the entire film is a semi-autobiographical story, as well as featuring many composite characters based on people he knew & grew up with.

Bale plays Jim, who returns from combat haunted by horrific & disturbing visions as a result of the significant trauma he endures whilst serving in the US military. He links back up with his best childhood friend Mike and they resume their favourite pastime of hanging out on the streets, getting drunk & high, whilst also becoming involved with petty crime. As much as Jim wants to get his life together & bring his Mexican girlfriend over the border to live with him, his significant mental health issues plague him constantly.

I don't want to say too much more about the story, as it is a film where the less you know, the more you get out of it. But it is absolutely incredible. Bale is magnetic, although for me I also feel that his absolute authenticity at being able to show extreme mental anguish may in part have been because of the terrible experiences & difficulties he had as a young man dealing with the fallout of the success of Empire of the Sun. Also, much credit must be given to Freddy Rodriguez as Mike. Starring opposite a powerhouse like Bale would be daunting for any actor, but he really comes into his own and gives a completely authentic & natural performance as the good man who is led astray by his friend.

Impressively as well, despite the micro-budget (it has been reported that there was so little money that no catering was provided,) is that nothing feels short-changed or fake. The crew shot on the actual streets and used real people who lived there to add layers of authenticity to the film. There is also unbelievably tight editing & pacing, adding to the frenetic pace. The only thing that stops this getting 5 stars is that for me there were a couple of scenes within the narrative that just didn't fit within the story. I also felt that, at close to 2 hours, the film could have used some slight trimming down, especially with some of the middle act scenes.

But these are minor gripes. I still absolutely loved and was gripped by this film. I always have huge reverence for these tiny films which have to fight tooth and nail to get made & distributed, plus will often star actors who take a big risk by signing on to these small films with no guarantee of success. And massive credit needs to be given to Bale to lending his star power & credibility to this story. Another reminder again why he is such a magnificent & wonderful actor.