Not an easy movie to watch but the acting is great. Bale, before he was really a huge star, is incredible. Apt title.

Underrated film. Great performances all around.

The two main characters bring this movie alive. Good soundtrack. Another Ayers gem.

This is a very entertaining movie and Christian Bale is off the charts in terms of his amazing versatility. It's not a pleasant movie, but it certainly is exciting movie that will not bore you ..nice little Latino angle for those who care.

Have watched this film more than 100x. I know every word. Brilliant, funny and disturbing. Bale and Rodriguez have incredible chemistry. Unforgettable.

I don't know why this movie has a low score. This movie is Awesome!

Christian Bales acting was so good, the movie was disturbing, riveted in my seat the whole time. He does these roles so well, The Machinist, American Psycho, this one was the best. He just does any role so well. Falls right into anything, makes any movie he is in a good movie.

The first half is a mess and can't figure out if it wants to be a urban drama/dark comedy while the second half is actually a solid psychological thriller with a good character study at times. Everything about this isn't half bad but second half heavy. However that good movie gets lost under a myraid of issues. The acting is decent but Bale is miscast. To me its like he read what are "Hood" people like and tried to emmulate that and I cant tell the way he acts is someone who has never actually expeirenced the urban lifestyle or knows anyone like that. But when he is a psychopath on the edge and stops with the homie stuff he's borderline riveting especially towards the end. Everyone else is just kind of ok and a bit forgettable save for Mike who does get better in the second half. None of them are really that likeable and kind of idiot jerks so its hard to root for them to get jobs. The music is decent but a bit of a mess. It's 2005 and over half the rap numbers they have were dated by the late 90s. It needed more modern hip hop. The cinematography isn't bad either. Most of the time its pretty basic camerawork and scenes that get weighed down by the out of place Homie style banter and unmemorable locations. The first half it feels very unfocused editing wise and its almost like they just drive around doing dumb stuff with no rhyme or reason. Anything job related is interesting but it goes right back to the stupid antics as soon as it builds momentum until like the last 20 minutes when it gets super intense. The ending is good though and I wish the entire film would've been more gritty, grounded, and heavy. This really suprised me how serious, dark, and good it gets when it stops all the stupid antics and takes itself seriously. This is like a watered down Blindspotting. This needed someone who could better capture urban characteristics, better dark humor if your going to use it, and more focus throughout. Anyone who is a Bale fan or Ayer fan can check this out. Bale despite the out of place acting for most of the runtime makes up for it with a super committed ending.

Harsh Times deals with a unstable veteran destroying himself while trying to find his way into the world.

Absolutely incredible movie, this was Ayer's debut as a director and he knocked it out of the park. Loved it thoroughly

I thought it was great

Harsh Times is produced by and performed by Christian Bale alongside his partner in crime Freddy Rodriguez. Bale plays a former Gulf War veteran who suffers from PTSD. They roamed the streets of Los Angeles on a no nonsense mission of self policing and trying to make it into the police academy. After the academy fails him he then gets an opportunity to be part of Homeland Security while Freddy is unemployed and trying to please his girlfriend played by Eva Longoria. They embark on a boys trip to Mexico to release some steam. It seemed the story dragged the first 2/3's of the movie while the latter part was more eventful. We also see Terry Crews and J.K. Simmons in a couple scenes as part of the supporting cast. Overall it was a good movie but I would not remember it or to recommend it.

Jim Davis (Christian Bale) is a former U.S. Army Ranger who suffers from posttraumatic stress disorder. Jim has a Mexican girlfriend, Marta (Tammy Trull), whom he is determined to marry and bring into the United States to start a life together. With this in mind, Jim returns to Los Angeles, California. In Los Angeles, Jim meets up with his best friend Mike Alonzo (Freddy Rodriguez). Mike's longtime girlfriend, Sylvia (Eva Longoria), a young attorney, is "on the warpath" over his failure to get a job (his previous job was outsourced) and she encourages Jim to help Mike hand out resumes. After being denied a position in the Los Angeles Police Department for failing the psychological profile, Jim gets drunk with Mike. The two visit Jim's ex-girlfriend, but when her current boyfriend shows up, a fight ensues in which the boyfriend is backed up by a group of friends. Jim is able to get the upper hand and when Mike produces a gun, they subdue the men and rob them of their possessions, including marijuana and a handgun which they later decide to sell. Jim later leaves messages on Mike's answering machine with several different voices, pretending to be companies responding to his resume. The next day, Jim goes to visit Mike and finds Sylvia in a good mood due to the fake callbacks. Jim and Mike go to a "paisa" bar to try to sell the gun, but leave after their potential buyer is killed. Mike is horrified, but Jim is strangely excited by witnessing death again. When Mike arrives back home drunk, Sylvia is upset, so Mike plays back the answering machine, unaware that his friend didn't hang up early enough and his voice is heard on the tape. Sylvia is enraged and throws Mike out. He stays at Jim's place. Jim gets shortlisted for a position with the Department of Homeland Security, but, after cheating to pass a urine test, he fails a polygraph test due to a question about his drug use. The only hope left for him is a government agent working out of Colombia, who appreciates Jim's ability to "get things done"; Jim eventually accepts the position but is warned that he must not marry a foreigner. Jim is told to report to FLETC in a few days. Meanwhile, Mike gets a job with a company managed by an old friend. Mike goes to visit Sylvia and tells her that he has a job for real. She calms down and the two make love. Impatient, Jim goes inside and tells Sylvia that Mike is coming to Mexico with him for the weekend, as it is their last chance to hang out. Sylvia is angry and against the idea, but Mike decides to go with Jim and Marta to Mexico... The reaction from audiences and critics were mixed. Christian Bale won praise for his portrayal of Jim. David Ayer´s "Harsh Times" is a dark, dramatic and intense film about two friends that can´t seem to find their way in life no matter what. Christian Bale truly breathes life into his psychotic character Jim whom is truly unsympathetic and deranged. Well worth a watch. Trivia: According to David Ayer, the script for Harsh Times (2005) was written in 1996. He wrote this script shortly after he wrote the script for Training Day (2001), which was completed a year earlier. The script is semi-autobiographical and is based on his own experiences. Like the character of Jim (Christian Bale), Ayer grew up in South Central LA, and joined the military. Upon returning to LA, he too found himself drifting into petty crime, and hanging out with his friend all day. He was able to pull his life together however, but some of his friends were unable to do so. As such, the character of Jim is a composite of both Ayer and a number of people he knew. David Ayer first met Christian Bale when Bale auditioned for Training Day (2001), for the role that ultimately went to Ethan Hawke. Ayer liked Bale's intensity, and gave him the 'Harsh Times' script. Bale loved it, and Ayer promised him that if the movie was ever made, he could play Jim. When the movie went into production, Ayer kept his promise.

This film is very underrated. The characters and the story are really realistic. And if you've known soldiers returning from their 10th tour in Afghanistan, for example, you may have met someone like Jim Davis, suffering from post-traumatic shock syndrome. If that's the case, you'll see how true Jim is to reality. The director put just enough in his script to make us understand that these soldiers are unstable and can easily lose their minds. The actors are all excellent. In my humble opinion, many of them would have deserved an award for the excellent way they play their roles. Having said that, it's not exactly an entertainment movie. If you're looking for a Hollywood-style action movie, forget about this one. It's too good for your expectations, too close to reality for you. In fact, I think that's why several people gave it a bad scores. They wanted to watch a good funny little war movie and got a good slap instead.

It takes a while to adjust to Bale's character, I feel like he was miscast in this. He's a great actor and all, but some parts of this role didn't seemed quite genuine. It's certainly not his best performance or his best film, neither is Ayer's.

Never heard of tale of a military vet adjusting to life in Los Angeles and Mexico.. Started out great, I was really enjoying it for the first half then it just kinda fell flat for most of the second half with a buncha relationship drama until the main character loses it and becomes too crazy for everyone else and completely unredeemable at which point you know he is going to meet the predictable end he deserves. Although it had it's lull, I don't see why reviews are as low as they are.

Awesome acting by Christian bale and really a nice movie.

Strengths: Christian Bale (Jim Davis) is great here. That's something that can be said for pretty much every movie. Davis is a flawed character and Bale plays him as such. He also had a natural chemistry with Freddy Rodriguez (Mike Alonzo). Even when they make bad decisions, it's still mostly fun to see them together. Terry Crews (Darrell), JK Simmons (Agent Richards), and Eva Longoria (Slyvia) all give solid supporting performances in smaller roles. There's an intensity and sense of realism in the majority of these scenes. You get the sense that something dramatic and bad will happen in almost every single situation they're put into. Weaknesses: What an absolutely bleak movie. Other than a few fun character interactions, there's just nonstop drab in this movie. I get that's what they were going for, but it just makes for a dull film. As flawed as Davis is, it never feels like he learns his lesson. He has a small moment near the end, but it doesn't feel like a satisfying conclusion. Neither o the two main characters come across as likable, so there's nobody to root for. David Ayer continues to be one of the most inconsistent writers/directors in Hollywood. This is one of his lesser efforts without much style in the direction and a script riddled with issues. The dialogue is clunky and most of the character decisions are just stupid. Overall: Christian Bale does all he can, and the rest of the cast is fine, but it lacks any kind of direction or reason to be engaged.

I really loved this movie. Christian Bale turns in what is in my opinion his best acting job yet, and he's done a lot of big things. He honestly brings a great energy to this movie and Freddy Rodriguez matches the energy 100%. The acting in this was fantastic. I can't wait to watch it again to see if there was anything I missed. Overall I was very impressed by this movie, the story, the acting, and the directing is all top notch. Very good work, I'll watch this several times. It really reminded me a lot of "Training Day", which I know the guy who directed the movie was involved with also.

Enjoyable and dramatic.