All Critics (105)
|
Top Critics (31)
|
Fresh (53)
|
Rotten (52)
|
DVD (20)
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.
Jim is such a psycho and Mike is such a patsy, we don't care about these guys. We've seen dozens of more interesting head cases in dozens of smarter films.
Harsh Times is so into its own nihilism, it sometimes forgets the humanity beneath the hurt.
Endless scenes of the two guys riding along, venting and cursing and chugging beers play like acting-class exercises, badly written ones at that.
For a neophyte director, Ayer displays a lot of style.
...As well-written and acted as Harsh Times may be, you will be relieved when the adrenaline returns to an acceptable level.
Complex, mature story of a Gulf War vet in crisis.
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.
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.
just like its protagonist, Harsh Times is fatally flawed, but in a manner that still remains compelling to watch.
Actors like Bale and Maguire are beloved in their comic book flicks, and frequently respected in other work, but not a massive draw in and of themselves.
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.
It's an amazing performance, one of the best of the year, with Bale truly making you believe in this over-the-top character.
A movie which merely manages to create an edgy, ominous atmosphere, but fails to provide much in the way of bloodletting until the shocking denouement during which the messy resolution comes off as a bit of an afterthought.
More Critic Reviews
Top Critic
