Despite a dedicated performance by Christian Bale, Harsh Times suffers from a heavy-handed and overly bleak plot. Read critic reviews
What to know
You might also like
See More
Death Sentence
The Lookout
Fracture
The Number 23
Derailed
Where to watch
Rate And Review
-
What did you think of the movie? (optional)
You're almost there! Just confirm how you got your ticket.
You're almost there! Just confirm how you got your ticket.
What did you think of the movie? (optional)
How did you buy your ticket?
-
Fandango
-
AMCTheatres.com or AMC AppNew
-
Cinemark Coming Soon
We won’t be able to verify your ticket today, but it’s great to know for the future.
-
Regal Coming Soon
We won’t be able to verify your ticket today, but it’s great to know for the future.
-
Theater box office or somewhere else
Harsh Times Photos
Movie Info
Jim (Christian Bale) is a Gulf War veteran and he believes it is his sworn duty to protect Americans by policing the streets of Los Angeles. His dreams are shattered when he is rejected by the Los Angeles Police Department leaving him and his Mexican paramour in the lurch. Jim is soon offered a position in the Department of Homeland Security leading him to recruit his unemployed best friend Mike (Freddy Rodriquez) to carve a path of devastation across the city.
-
Rating: R (Language|Drug Use|Strong Violence)
-
Genre: Crime, Drama
-
Original Language: English
-
Director: David Ayer
-
Producer: Andrea Sperling, David Ayer
-
Writer: David Ayer
-
Release Date (Theaters): wide
-
Release Date (Streaming):
-
Box Office (Gross USA): $3.3M
-
Runtime:
-
Distributor: Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer
-
Production Co: Crave Films, Harsh Times LLC
-
Sound Mix: DTS, SDDS, Dolby Digital, Dolby SRD
-
Aspect Ratio: Flat (1.85:1)
Cast & Crew
News & Interviews for Harsh Times
Critic Reviews for Harsh Times
Audience Reviews for Harsh Times
-
Boring character driven film
brendan n Super Reviewer -
I was excited to watch Harsh Times cause 1) They had Christian Bale 2) Gritty crime drama Wow.. this movie was crap. The plot was one of the most dull plots to have ever existed; it starts to take off literally in the last 30 minutes. Poorly directed, edited, and shot. The screenplay had no content whatsoever. Christian Bale pulls off a very committed performance but literally everything else fails.
-
This film just didn't capture me, but it might be a hit for you, a out of control ex gulf war veteran returns home to find a job in law enforcement and he just can't control his anger. only worth 2 1/2 stars from me.
-
I know when I think gangster thug, I think Christian Bale or at least I do now, because "American Accent #42" is great. I don't know if there's that many variations of an american accent, but if there are, then Christian Bale knows them. He's so british, he's almost cockney and he couldn't be bothered to play french, at the very least. Man, what is this world coming to where great talents are abandoning their own heritage? These really are harsh times or the next generation of classic rock, where the most british of brits would come out and sing like they just pulled up in a pickup truck with a keg of moonshine whiskey in the back. Well, after hearing this film's soundtrack, it's safe to assume that no matter how much I prey to the almighty Axl Rose, the response is always going to be "Oh-woah-woah, sweet child o' mine, the future looks bleak for quality music." Of course, that's just a problem with humanity, not necessarily a problem with this film, which actually suffers from some faulty editing, slowness, drop-offs in engagement, some overdrawn points, improvable dialogue and a cop-out ending. Of course, what might be the film's biggest problem is that pretty much nothing happens for so much of it. There's plenty of problems surrounding our leads, but there's so little of it that's conveyed sharply enough, that there's hardly any smooth sense of conflict. However, it makes up for that lack of compellingness by bringing on a whole heap of it in the final act and although said final act closes abruptly, it still really hits home. Still, before that, the whole weight of this film lays on the shoulders of the performances, which are charismatic and keep the film rather entertaining. There is plenty of charming banter between characters and the performers' charisma and chemistry make it enjoyable to watch, even though these sequences are rather expendable. Still, when the performers get into the dramatic aspects, they carry the compellingness home and they stand as a strong presence, especially Bale, who is absolutely electric in this film. If you see this film for nothing else, then see it for Bale's incredible performance, because with excellent emotional work, many smoothly played-upon layers and a powerful presence, he really dives into the role and conveys the struggles and pains of his character so sharply that after a while, he completely transforms into the Jim Davis character. In the end, "Harsh Times" falls short on consistently keeping up a compelling atmosphere, but thanks to a strong, charismatic cast - headed by an exhilarating performance by Christian Bale - and an emotionally riveting final act, it ultimately stands as an entertaining character study worth watching.
cameron j Super Reviewer
Verified