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Harsh Times

Mixed or average reviews
Based on 24 critic reviews
How did we calculate this?
Based on 17 votes
Read user comments
Rate this movie >
Movie Info
Genre(s): Action | Crime | Drama
Written by: David Ayer
Directed by: David Ayer
Release Date:
Theatrical: November 10, 2006
DVD: March 13, 2007
Running Time: 120 minutes, Color
Origin: USA
Summary
RATING: R for strong violence, language and drug use
Starring Christian Bale, Freddy RodrÃguez, Tammy Trull, Adriana Millan, Eva Longoria, Terry Crews, and Noel Gugliemi
From the writer of "Training Day," Harsh Times is a gritty look at friendship, loyalty and ambition on the extremely rough streets of south central Los Angeles. (MGM)
Also On The Web: Internet Movie Database View The Trailer Official Studio Site
What The Critics Said
All critic scores are converted to a 100-point scale. If a critic does not indicate a score, we assign a score based on the general impression given by the text of the review. Learn more...
New York Post Kyle Smith
If Martin Scorsese were 30 and a Los Angeleno, he'd be making movies much like this one.
Read Full Review >Entertainment Weekly Lisa Schwarzbaum
Bale is mesmerizing and Rodriguez keeps up with him as the whole unsafe contraption zooms.
Read Full Review >ReelViews James Berardinelli
Harsh Times occasionally echoes "Taxi Driver," Ayer's own "Training Day," and even "First Blood" in the way it examines the psychological disintegration of a character and the seduction of amorality.
Read Full Review >Miami Herald Peter Debruge
Not since "To Live and Die in L.A" has there been such a raw, cynical vision of living and dying in L.A.
Read Full Review >Philadelphia Inquirer Steven Rea
Bale brings intense energy (and a convincing American accent) to the proceedings, and the film manages to make this borderline Travis Bickle into a sympathetic character - with a sweetheart, and a sweeter life, beckoning from south of the border. Strong stuff.
Read Full Review >TV Guide Ken Fox
With his ersatz-gangsta swagger, the once-again buff Bale gives it his all -- he's got to be the most committed actor in Hollywood -- but the real surprise here is Rodriguez, who has all the talent and charisma of a major star.
Read Full Review >San Francisco Chronicle Ruthe Stein
All along, you know something terrible is going to happen, and when it does, you leave the theater shaken and deeply moved.
Read Full Review >Chicago Reader J.R. Jones
Debuting as director, Ayer once again points his loose cannon directly into the body politic: the protagonist of this sour but haunting tale is a crazed army ranger just returned from overseas (Christian Bale) who's so full of war that even the LAPD won't hire him.
Read Full Review >The Onion (A.V. Club) Noel Murray
Ayer gets lost in a maze of ironies, and has to bulldoze his way to an exit. For a while, Harsh Times is thrillingly hard to predict. By the end, it becomes all too easy.
Read Full Review >The Globe and Mail (Toronto) Rick Groen
Harsh Times opens with a deadly nightmare and ends with a vast bloodbath -- in between, things get a little gruesome.
Read Full Review >Chicago Tribune Michael Wilmington
Harsh Times, is almost a good, salty urban thriller.
Read Full Review >Variety Todd McCarthy
A psychotic seizure of a performance by Christian Bale dominates Harsh Times, the directorial debut of David Ayer that channels "Taxi Driver."
Read Full Review >Seattle Post-Intelligencer Sean Axmaker
Well-intentioned but not very well directed, it makes for a better psychological profile than a film.
Read Full Review >Baltimore Sun Michael Sragow
For most of its meandering running time Harsh Times is just a rough South Central L.A. buddy movie.
Read Full Review >New York Daily News Jack Mathews
The result is an angry, violent mess of a movie with a central character threatening to implode right on the screen.
Read Full Review >Film Threat Pete Vonder Haar
Give Harsh Times an "E" for effort, but not much else.
Read Full Review >The New York Times Stephen Holden
Mr. Bales's spectacular technical performance of a toxic bad boy on the fast track to hell somehow lacks an inner core.
Read Full Review >Los Angeles Times Michael Ordona
Harsh Times goes down like the vinegar its protagonist chugs to try to beat a drug test. It's carefully crafted, exasperating and ugly, a festival of self-destructiveness, in all ways a reflection of its lead as brought to careening, erupting, implosive life by Christian Bale.
Read Full Review >The Hollywood Reporter Frank Scheck
The film's unrelenting bleakness and misanthropic tone is likely to be a turnoff to mainstream performances, but it provides its lead actor with another opportunity to display his riveting intensity.
Read Full Review >Village Voice Jim Ridley
Whatever political statement Ayer intended to make with his Gulf War veteran turned human time bomb is swamped by the movie's obnoxious badass envy, and Bale's gloating display of American-psycho fireworks, the kind of vein-popping show-boating that might as well be performed in a mirror.
Read Full Review >Washington Post Desson Thomson
The film amounts to a harsh and perpetual assault on viewers' sensibilities -- not only because of its violence but because of its overall bleakness.
Read Full Review >Boston Globe Wesley Morris
The real problem with Harsh Times is Jim himself. Bale goes at the part with his usual intensity, but the character still seems like a psycho without psychology or a soul.
Read Full Review >Charlotte Observer Lawrence Toppman
Harsh Times contains exactly 30 seconds of novelty.
Read Full Review >What Our Users Said
The average user rating for this movie is 6.2 (out of 10) based on 17 User Votes
Note: User votes are NOT included in the Metascore calculation.
Kyle gave it a10:
Better than Training Day... Narc was a little better but Bale owned this film.
Simon Marts gave it a10:
Amazing. A modern day "Taxi Driver". It isn't about blood and guts, this movie follows one messed up dude who's kill switch is stuck in the on position and is going swirly on the downward spiral. You'll love this movie or hate it. I've recommended it to everyone and these are the only two reactions I've gotten.
Lee H. gave it a10:
More real than reality TV in depicting the results of war and modern society on young lower class urban men.
Andy gave it an8:
Superb acting, especially from Rodriguez, in what turns out to be a great potrayal of a play torn out of the pages of a Greek tragedy.
Simon B. gave it a0:
Gangster version of Dumb & Dumber. It's stupid from start to finish.
Andy S. gave it a9:
Superb movie! Great acting from Christian Bale. Surprising good accent!
Daniel A. gave it a9:
A superbly made film. Gripping, unquestionably acted and with sharp, realistic dialogue. It certainly deserves a far higher rating than the averages displayed here.
