View Trailer:

Making his directorial debut the writer of Training Day, David Ayer, polishes off a script he's had knocking around since his early 20s and sets about committing it to film with Rottweiler tenacity.  Despite its immature roots the story still packs an emotional punch capturing Ayer's own intense, trapped masculinity after his stint in the marines as a young man. It's an obviously personal project that initially holds the audience at arms length while the central characters open the story with an unlikeable swagger until the more universal themes start to cut through the barbed wire of their friendship to deal with the violent journey from boyhood to manhood.  Essentially it's a coming-of-age story for both the men caught in the chaos of LA that swirls around them.

Once again Ayer is in familiar territory cruising around his old, gritty stomping ground.  Not the glistening city of angels but one of alienation and disjointed cultures fighting over the scraps of the 'American Dream'.  Dealing with the horror he witnessed in the Gulf war, 26 year old Jim (Bale) finds it difficult to follow his ambition of joining the police force, mainly down to his frequent rabble-rousing and flaunting of the law with his old mate Mike (Rodriguez) who supposedly looks for a proper job under the watchful eye of his lawyer wife (Longoria).  Things look up for Jim as he raises interest from a government organisation impressed by his efficient brutality but this puts pressure, not only on his delicate friendship with Mike, but his commitment to a girlfriend hidden away in Mexico who offers a potentially normal future.

The first act of Harsh Times will border on the unwatchable for some audiences.  Those attracted by the headlining name of 'Batman' Bale are in for a shock with the actor refusing to put in a more crowd-pleasing monster in the vein of Denzel Washington's Alonzo and instead it's another measured and assured performance that'll see viewers repulsed before being engaged. Imagine Patrick Bateman brought up in the ghetto; the same contempt for those around him but seeking acceptance from the world and sounding like a teenage Dr. Dre fan.  His violent ways are anchored to his experiences in the Gulf and single-minded desire to be a cop to carry on his government sanctioned aggression.  Watching the character of Jim is almost like watching the evil brother of Tom Hanks in Big; a man-child who does what he wants which usually involves driving, drinking and drug taking with his amigo Mike.  All a bit tedious to watch especially while Eva Longoria is more like their nagging Mum rather than Mike's long-suffering wife and the thing he should be fighting for.  Then the indulgences of Ayer's direction and Jim's destructive spiral gradually bring the pair into the much-promised Harsh Times.
 
Ayer maintains an atmosphere of cold menace throughout with Jim always on the edge but still able to play the system with a sincere 'sir' when dealing with authority.  The scenes of extreme violence are stark and brutal but as a director still finding his voice he still missteps; the Rob Cohen (director of Ayer polished The Fast and the Furious) style climax, all slo-mo and rendered carnage, seems out of place while Ayer often lets the story border on the ludicrous following the introduction of a shadowy agent in the vein of The X-Files' smoking man.  Luckily the audience become anchored in Rodriquez's sympathetic portrayal of a young man making a choice between the devil and salvation.  He may be a bit whinier than Ethan Hawk's rookie cop but he ensures that the movie reaches a satisfying conclusion after a shaky start where Bale is allowed to wallow in his nastiness.  Ayer has disturbing and vital view of the wild side of LA, he just needs to hone his experiences for a wider audience.