Love the Hard Way

Chicago Sun-Times Roger Ebert

Not perfect; a vice cop played by Pam Grier is oddly conceived and unlikely in action, and the movie doesn't seem to know how to end. But as character studies of Jack and Claire, it is daring and inventive, and worthy of comparison with the films of a French master of criminal psychology like Jean-Pierre Melville.

Chicago Reader J.R. Jones

Their relationship is so subtly inflected with fear, envy, and self-loathing on both sides of the class divide that I was drawn in nonetheless. Brody is a compelling presence throughout.

The Onion (A.V. Club) Nathan Rabin

Brody's Oscar victory and newfound star power might have secured Love The Hard Way its theatrical release, but his depth and charisma are what make the film haunting and surprisingly resonant.

Chicago Tribune Robert K. Elder

Writer-director Peter Sehr displays obvious directing talent, especially in his use of nonlinear love scenes. He shows the coupling, the approach and release all at once, out of order, mixing the entire seduction ritual into one fluid montage.

Los Angeles Times Manohla Dargis

It's too little Grier too late, but it's also fairly satisfying to watch.

Entertainment Weekly Lisa Schwarzbaum

Adrien Brody completists will appreciate Love the Hard Way, if only as an example of the kind of self-conscious, brat-noir projects their man probably won't be doing anymore.

Boston Globe Ty Burr

The film's final scenes are among its silliest, unfortunately.

New York Post Lou Lumenick

Wildly uneven romantic drama.

TV Guide Ken Fox

This solid, if familiar, neo-noir premise is nevertheless given a fresh spin by the funky NYC locales, the dubwise hip-hop soundtrack, the terrific chemistry between Brody and the underrated Seda and the one and only Pam Grier.

San Francisco Chronicle Mick LaSalle

Low-budget, oddly cast and strictly indie all the way.

Village Voice Laura Sinagra

If this adaptation of Chinese punk-lit writer Wang Shuo's fiction doesn't survive its Bronx trick-out, you can't really blame Brody, whose luminous autodidact seems caught between camp and coolsville.

The New York Times Stephen Holden

Loses tension (and ultimately credibility) as it wanders through three possible endings before grinding to a halt.

Variety Derek Elley

Doesn't ring true as a love story between a cocky scam artist and a clever biology student, despite a game effort by Charlotte Ayanna in an impossible role and Adrien Brody at his loosest.

New York Magazine Peter Rainer

Brody doesn’t deserve this movie.

Wall Street Journal Joe Morgenstern

None of it is enough, though, to save this glum drama from its schematic self.

Austin Chronicle Marjorie Baumgarten

Although Love the Hard Way is saturated with a doomed romanticism that feels more fictitious than real, the actors lend the movie a potency that it would not have had otherwise.

New York Daily News Jack Mathews

Brody does have a mesmerizing presence and is the only reason to see a film that likely would have gone straight to video if he hadn't won that Oscar for "The Pianist."

LA Weekly Hazel-Dawn Dumpert

Long-shelved 2001 clunker.

Christian Science Monitor David Sterritt

Brody has offbeat charisma, but it's no match for the corny dialogue he's given here, not to mention the "Wild at Heart" snakeskin jacket he wears.

Rolling Stone Peter Travers

To shine in a turd like this shows Brody has the stuff that -- damn the Oscar jinx -- makes an actor last.