Harsh Times
(2005) dir. David Ayers
viewed: 11/12/06 at Edwards Fresno Stadium and IMAX, Fresno, CA
This film is the directorial debut for screenwriter David Ayers who has made his name with his gritty, street realism of gangsta types and hoodlums in Los Angeles, hitting his high point with Training Day (2001) which I hadn’t seen. This film is set well within that same gritty, tough Los Angeles and focuses on a character who has been a elite killer operative for the army in the Middle East but has returned to L.A. with nightmares and the need for a job.
Christian Bale is at his intense best again in this film. I think he really started heavily along this type of character in American Psycho (2000) but also hit this type of intensity in The Machinist (2004), Batman Begins (2005), and more recently in The Prestige (2005). He’s got it down. Actually American Psycho is almost reprised here. His character in this film is almost as ruthless, maybe more so. But this psychosis is deep and blinding. And it ultimately consumes him in a critical act of violence.
What is good in this film is the friendship/relationship he has with Freddy Rodriguez’s character. They have a genuine friendship despite Bales’ growing psychosis. Both are on the hunt for work but are in the meantime getting drunk and stoned and up to some crime of their own. Bales’ character is looking for work in law enforcement, any facet thereof. And the LAPD turn him down on his psychological testing. However, despite that and barely passing a urinalysis and a lie detector test, Homeland Security want to give him a shot. It’s quite a clever political commentary.
The film isn’t amazingly shot. It’s pretty gritty and grainy, with lots of close-ups on faces while the two are cruising around L.A. But it’s effective, particularly in certain sequences. And overall, though its a disturbing and violent film, it’s also successful. There is a lot here that is interesting, especially its takes on the Latino community and Mexico itself. I thought it was pretty good.
