Harsh Times (2005)

User Rating:

7.0/10   

Director:

David Ayer

Writer (WGA):

David Ayer (written by)

Release Date:

10 November 2006 (USA)

Genre:

Crime | Drama | Thriller

Plot:

A tough-minded drama about two friends in South Central Los Angeles and the violence that comes between them.

Plot Keywords:

Mercy Killing | Corrupt Policeman | Corruption | Stealing Money | Urine Sample

Awards:

1 nomination

Cast

Christian Bale	...	Jim Luther Davis
Freddy Rodríguez	...	Mike Alonzo
Eva Longoria Parker	...	Sylvia (as Eva Longoria)
Chaka Forman	...	Toussant
Tammy Trull	...	Marta
J.K. Simmons	...	Agent Richards
Michael Monks	...	Agent Hollenbeck
Samantha Esteban	...	Letty
Tania Verafield	...	Patty
Noel Gugliemi	...	Flaco
Adriana Millan	...	Rita
Geovanny Corvera	...	Wilo (as Geo Corvera)
Cesar Garcia	...	Listo
Terry Crews	...	Darrell
Emilio Rivera	...	Eddy

MPAA:

Rated R for strong violence, language and drug use.

Runtime:

116 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English | Spanish

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Certification:

UK:15 | Ireland:16 | Australia:MA | USA:R (certificate #42104) | Singapore:M18 | France:-12 | Germany:16 | Portugal:M/16 | Finland:K-15 | New Zealand:R18 | Italy:VM14 | Philippines:R-18 | Argentina:16

Filming Locations:

Baja California, Mexico

Company:

Andrea Sperling Productions

Trivia:

According to David Ayer, the script for _Harsh Times (2005)_ was written in 1996. He wrote this script shortly after he wrote the script for Training Day (2001), which was completed a year earlier. The script is semi-autobiographical and is based on his own experiences.

Goofs:

Continuity: In the scene where Jim discovers he has been rejected by the LAPD and goes into a violent rage, there are several inconsistencies with the shots of the traffic behind his Ford. For example, one shot shows Jim marching up to the car on his right, a bus passes the left side of his car. The following shot shows the same bus behind his car. Another following shot then shows no traffic behind his car for at least 100 meters.

Quotes:

Mike Alvarez: How was it like to straight up whack em up ?
Jim Davis: Point and shoot. Pop, pop - move on! You do not stop and think!

Movie Connections:

References Training Day (2001)

Soundtrack:

Return of the Tres

Training Day... but with a better script, better actors, and a better director

An intense film, that FEELS a lot like Training Day, but with more of a gritty approach, and with actors who seem actually believable... which makes sense since it's based on the real life experiences of the director/writer and people he knows.

Rodriguez (who was at the World Premiere) and Bale give stellar performances. Rodriguez, if this film is well distributed, will get huge exposure and will likely go far. His performance was incredible, believable, and emotional. Bale continues to show that he's one of the best in Hollywood. Sure, he's playing a slightly psychotic, mentally unstable fellow, similar to a number of previous roles he's played, but he does it so well.

Ayer has improved as a writer, and considering this is his feature film debut as a director, he did fantastically. His knowledge as a director shone through in the Q&A after the film. He also made sure to mention the Cannes labs, where he worked on the script for this film, and how it helped him improve as a writer.

Go see it. It's intense, well written, incredibly performed, and is a thinker of a film.