A crazy little film, modest in its scope but grand in its ambition. It paints it's story in loud primary colors, with intense pressure cooker characterizations.
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05/05/08
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Harsh Times (2006)
48 %
Tomatometer
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Reviews Counted: 95
Fresh: 46
Rotten:49
Average Rating: 5.5/10
Consensus: Despite a dedicated performance by Christian Bale, Harsh Times suffers from a heavy-handed and overly bleak plot.
Runtime: 1 hr 59 mins
Genre: Action/Adventure
Theatrical Release: Nov 10, 2006 Wide
Box Office: $3,304,691
Synopsis: Haunted by nightmares from his murderous military past, the honorably discharged Jim (Christian Bale) spends his time between his impoverished fiancee in rural Mexico and cruising the streets of east L.A., knocking back beers and... [More]
Starring: Christian Bale, Freddy Rodriguez, Tammy Trull, Adriana Millan
Director: David Ayer
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Reviews for Harsh Times
HARSH TIMES is a portrait of a male-dominated world and inChristian Bale's fierce performance, Ayer has found the perfect actor. It's just unfortunate that the screenplay feels like a left-over from an era that has passed.
07/14/07
just like its protagonist, Harsh Times is fatally flawed, but in a manner that still remains compelling to watch.
07/09/07
A movie that seems gritty and pointless for its first third, begins to grow in meaning as the pointlessness snowballs into absurdity and then tragedy.
03/27/07
It's an amazing performance, one of the best of the year, with Bale truly making you believe in this over-the-top character.
03/24/07
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03/15/07
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01/27/07
Top Critic
Top Critic Por alguns instantes, o filme parece ter algo relevante a dizer sobre a desumanização provocada pela guerra ou o niilismo de uma geração entediada e descrente, mas constatamos que quer apenas chocar, desperdiçando as ótimas atuações de Bale e Rodriguez.
12/29/06
A gritty, automobile-intensive, buddy flick rather reminiscent of director David Ayer's similarly amoral Training Day.
12/25/06
Harsh Times is dark and brutal, not the kind of film that lures a large audience or garners awards, although it deserves both.
12/04/06
The mix of black humor and pitiless drama makes for a very effective cinematic slow burn
11/25/06
Harsh Times wins in the end by keeping its fingers wrapped tightly around its viewers’ throats.
11/25/06
Jim Davis (Christian Bale) may be the most aggressively self-destructive character since Johnny Boy Civello in 'Mean Streets.'
11/19/06
None of these characters are the least bit likeable, and that's the fault of David Ayer, who structures the film as a series of mostly disconnected episodes with a single theme:
11/18/06
Harsh Times is an hour-by-hour diary of two crazy, unreliable, irresponsible dudes trying to find a way to fit into the same society they hate, facing one hurdle after another until they appear to butcher half of Los Angeles.
11/15/06
Top Critic We don’t like the view from this dark place, but is that a flaw or precisely the point?
11/15/06
Bale's wild-eyed menace keeps you watching for a time, but by the grisly end he's just another American psycho.
11/14/06
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