When we were first offered Harsh Times for review, I requested it rather grudgingly.  I’d heard a couple of bad things about Harsh Times, and the speed with which it left theaters concerned me.  It’s written and directed by David Ayer, the man who wrote Training Day.  It’s set in South Central Los Angeles, not far from where Training Day was set.  It’s a story of a man who is trying to get on the LAPD after serving in the military but gets wrapped up in petty crime… which also bears some resemblance to Training Day.

I liked Training Day, but I didn’t obsess over it.  I had no desire to watch another version of it.  In short, I was not looking forward to seeing this movie.  When I received it and read the promotional blurbs on the back cover, one specifically caught my attention and made me roll my eyes.  It compared Ayer’s writing and directing to a young Martin Scorcese.  I’d just watched The Departed for the one kajillionth time the night before (The Dropkick Murphy’s “Shipping Up To Boston” still swirling in my head as I write this) and I knew there was no way this Ayer character was going to live up to that bit of praise.

Ladies and Gentlemen, I was wrong.  David Ayer may very well be Los Angeles’ version of a 30 year old Scorcese, just as Kyle Smith of the New York Post alluded.  I don’t know if my predisposition to being let down heightened my take on the film, but I’m here to tell you that Harsh Times is in fact a very strong movie.  It’s got powerful performances, good writing, solid direction and I fucking loved it. 

Christian Bale stars as Jim, an ex-Army Ranger who has recently returned home from Iraq.  He’s in that most heinous of situations where you go from having your every move planned for you by the military to suddenly being rudderless and looking for work.  His best friend is Mike (Freddy Rodriguez), a programmer who is also out of work.  Both have known each other for years and both have that easy, partying and drinking camaraderie that comes about in your mid-20’s.  These are guys who have been through some reasonably hairy shit together and have pledged to be there for the other no matter what.  Harsh Times follows them over the course of a few days as they go out together under the pretenses of looking for work.  They are distributing resumes to appease Mike’s girlfriend Sylvia (Eva Longoria) but mostly they are drinking, driving, scoring drugs, committing petty crimes and talking a lot of shit along the way.

This movie is the epitome of the phrase “slow burn”.  The plot moves almost at a snail’s pace, establishing all of the characters firmly and slowly revealing one bit of intrigue at a time.  Bale is absolutely riveting.  His take on the recently returned vet who is still dealing with some post traumatic stress is a standout and is the most obvious thing to compare to a Scorcese film (DeNiro’s Taxi Driver performance).  However Rodriguez also holds his own here.  His character becomes the movie’s heart and watching him start to come to grips with the idea that it’s time to grow up is pleasantly surprising. 

In fact, after watching this film I wanted to find the people whose initial reviews I read and set them straight.  The film itself is brilliantly written, acted and directed.  Its biggest weakness is the way it was marketing.  When I first saw the trailers, I thought this movie was going to be a gangsta infused mess.  It was positioned as a psycho-cop movie replete with a hardcore rap soundtrack.  That bullshit marketing strategy has carried over into one of the least exciting DVD covers I’ve seen in ages.  I wouldn’t even consider picking this up at the video store based on the cover art.

That’s a goddamned shame. Harsh Times may very well be a movie that is looked back on 20 years from now as a classic of its time.  Ayer still has a ways to go, but based on Training Day and this film, he may one day be standing up receiving his own long-overdue Academy Award. 

Presentation
There’s a style at work here that is very similar to Training Day, specifically there are lots of smoke-filled dark interiors and processed exteriors.  The sets are gritty and real and the movie captures South Central very well.  The DVD looks good and sounds good.  The soundtrack doesn’t overpower you and the mix is well used.

Extras
Helmed entirely by Ayer, the commentary for Harsh Times has every right to be boring, but it actually is pretty interesting.  What he lacks in delivery and charisma he makes up for in information, covering technical aspects of the film as well as his inspirations for writing the script and using the settings he did.  It soon becomes apparent that Ayer did something many good writers do.  He wrote about what he knew and his tour of the film is worth your time.

The deleted scenes are fun to watch once but don’t do much more than add a little more color to the characters.  Most were probably cut for time and the movie is no worse for wear because of their absence.

Finally there is a trailer gallery that includes both theatrical and television trailers.  Watch these and you’ll see what I mean about this being marketed poorly. 

There are also trailers for Black Christmas and School For Scoundrels when the disc first begins to play but neither are accessible from the extras menus.

The Bottom Line
Not everyone is going to like Harsh Times but I did.  I truly do think it’s a movie that will eventually be looked back on fondly as a stepping stone in Ayer’s career.  His next film, The Night Watchman, is one that I’m looking forward to seeing in 2008.  If you are a fan of early Scorcese movies like Mean Streets and Taxi Driver, you could do much worse than sitting down for two hours to watch Harsh Times.  Check it out if you get the chance.