''Harsh Times'' is a 2005 American action crime film written and directed by

David Ayer David Ayer (born January 18 , 1968) is an American filmmaker known for making crime films that are set in Los Angeles and deal with gangs and police corruption. His screenplays include ''Training Day'' (2001), ''The Fast and the Furious'' (2001 ...

in his directorial debut. Set in

South Central Los Angeles South Los Angeles, also known as South Central Los Angeles or simply South Central, is a region in southwestern Los Angeles County, lying mostly within the city limits of Los Angeles, south of downtown. It is "defined on Los Angeles city maps as a ...

, the film stars

Christian Bale Christian Charles Philip Bale (born 30 January 1974) is an English actor. Known for his versatility and physical transformations for his roles, he has been a leading man in films of several genres. He has received various accolades, includin ...

and Freddy Rodriguez. The film was distributed by

Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios Inc., also known as Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Pictures and abbreviated as MGM, is an American film, television production, distribution and media company owned by amazon (company), Amazon through MGM Holdings, founded o ...

and Bauer Martinez Entertainment. Ayer says that the film's characters are largely based on the people he knew when he lived in South Central Los Angeles.

Plot

Jim Davis (

) is a former

U.S. Army Ranger United States Army Rangers, according to the US Army's definition, are personnel, past or present, in any unit that has the official designation "Ranger". The term is commonly used to include graduates of the US Army Ranger School, even if t ...

and GWOT veteran who suffers from

PTSD Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is a mental and behavioral disorder that can develop because of exposure to a traumatic event, such as sexual assault, warfare, traffic collisions, child abuse, domestic violence, or other threats on ...

. 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 Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, largest city in the U.S. state, state of California and the List of United States cities by population, sec ...

. 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 The Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD), officially known as the City of Los Angeles Police Department, is the municipal police department of Los Angeles, California. With 9,974 police officers and 3,000 civilian staff, it is the third-lar ...

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 Cannabis, also known as marijuana among other names, is a psychoactive drug from the cannabis plant. Native to Central or South Asia, the cannabis plant has been used as a drug for both recreational and entheogenic purposes and in various t ...

and a

handgun A handgun is a short-barrelled gun, typically a firearm, that is designed to be usable with only one hand. It is distinguished from a long gun (i.e. rifle, shotgun or machine gun, etc.), which needs to be held by both hands and also braced ag ...

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 An answering machine, answerphone or message machine, also known as telephone messaging machine (or TAM) in the United Kingdom, UK and some Commonwealth countries, ansaphone or ansafone (from a trade name), or telephone answering device (TAD), ...

, 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 The United States Department of Homeland Security (DHS) is the U.S. federal executive department responsible for public security, roughly comparable to the interior or home ministries of other countries. Its stated missions involve anti-ter ...

, but, after cheating to pass a

urine test A urine test is any medical test performed on a urine specimen. The analysis of urine is a valuable diagnostic tool because its composition reflects the functioning of many body systems, particularly the kidneys and urinary system, and specimens a ...

, he fails a

polygraph A polygraph, often incorrectly referred to as a lie detector test, is a device or procedure that measures and records several physiological indicators such as blood pressure, pulse, respiration, and skin conductivity while a person is asked ...

test due to a question about his drug use. The only hope left for him is a government agent working out of

Colombia Colombia (, ; ), officially the Republic of Colombia, is a country in South America with insular regions in North America—near Nicaragua's Caribbean coast—as well as in the Pacific Ocean. The Colombian mainland is bordered by the ...

, 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 Toussant to Mexico. In Mexico, the trio attend a big party where Marta reveals she is pregnant, and Jim responds violently, threatening to punch her in the stomach and shoot her in the head. Seeing this from afar, Mike urges Toussant and Jim to leave for home. After Jim drives home dangerously in a belligerent state, Toussant urges Jim to get help and will cut off all contact until he does so. Afterward, Jim reveals to Mike he is transporting 20 kilos of marijuana. When Mike protests, Jim pulls a gun on him, flashing back, before breaking down in tears, horrified at what he is becoming. Mike, filled with pity for his friend, agrees to accompany Jim to the deal. When they arrive, they realize one of the buyers was the same man they had earlier robbed. Hostility ensues with both Jim and the other gang members pulling out guns, resulting in the other man's death. The other members of the buying party plead for their lives, but Jim kills them while suffering flashbacks. While Jim and Mike are escaping in the car, a man comes from the house and shoots at the car with an

Armsel Striker The Armsel Striker, also known as the Sentinel Arms Co Striker-12, Protecta, Protecta Bulldog and SWD Street Sweeper is a 12-gauge shotgun with a revolving cylinder that was designed for riot control and combat. History The Armsel Striker was de ...

; Jim is hit in the back and face and subsequently

paralyzed Paralysis (also known as plegia) is a loss of motor function in one or more muscles. Paralysis can also be accompanied by a loss of feeling (sensory loss) in the affected area if there is sensory damage. In the United States, roughly 1 in 5 ...

. He urges Mike to "step up" and shoot him, thus ending his suffering. After some hesitation, Mike and Jim say their goodbyes and Mike ends up killing Jim. The film ends with Mike returning to Sylvia. They embrace together as Mike breaks down crying.

Cast

as Jim Davis * Freddy Rodriguez as Mike Alonzo * Eva Longoria as Sylvia Alonzo * Tammy Trull as Marta * Terry Crews as Darrell * Samantha Esteban as Letty * Tania Verafield as Patty *

Noel Gugliemi Noel Albert Gugliemi (also known as Noel G.) is an American actor best known for his portrayals of Southern Californian gangsters. Gugliemi has received some notoriety for having played characters named ''Hector'' in several movies and TV shows. ...

as 'Flaco' * Chaka Forman as Toussant * Adriana Millan as Rita * César García Gómez as 'Listo' * Geo Corvera as 'Wilo' * Blue Mesquita as Leo * Craig Ricci Shaynak as Agent Doug Gillespie * Michael Monks as Agent Hollenbreck * J.K. Simmons as Agent Richards *

Armando Riesco Armando Riesco (born December 5, 1977) is a Puerto Rican actor. Early life Riesco was born in Mayagüez, Puerto Rico, to Cuban immigrants who resettled there. He was raised in San Juan where he attended Colegio San Ignacio de Loyola. He the ...

as Alex * Emilio Rivera as Eddy * Sonia Iris Lozada as Gracie * Daniel Edward Mora as Joe 'Crazy Joe' * Anthony "Citric" Campos as Casper * Abel Soto as Chucky 'Lil Chucky' * Robert Larabee as 'Big Shadow' * Paul Renteria as Ranchero * Brisa as Lina * Violeta Monroy as Vicky *

Kenneth Choi Kenneth Choi (born October 20, 1971) is an American actor. He is known for playing Henry Lin on the television series ''Sons of Anarchy'' (2008–2014), Chester Ming in Martin Scorsese's '' The Wolf of Wall Street'' (2013), and Judge Lance It ...

as Fujimoto * Barry Colvert as Polygraph Expert

Reception

Christian Bale won praise for his portrayal of Jim Davis. The website's critical consensus reads, "Despite a dedicated performance by Christian Bale, ''Harsh Times'' suffers from a heavy-handed and overly bleak plot." According to

Metacritic Metacritic is a website that aggregates reviews of films, TV shows, music albums, video games and formerly, books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted average). Metacritic was created by Jason Dietz, Marc ...

, which calculated a weighted average score of 56 out of 100 based on 24 critics, the film received "mixed or average reviews".

References

External links

* * * *
David Ayer Interview

Christian Bale Interview

(links to several interviews) {{David Ayer 2005 films American crime drama films American crime thriller films American gangster films 2000s crime drama films 2005 crime thriller films Films set in Los Angeles Iraq War films Rangers Films directed by David Ayer Films with screenplays by David Ayer Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer films Films scored by Graeme Revell Films produced by Andrea Sperling 2005 directorial debut films Films set in Koreatown, Los Angeles 2000s English-language films Films about post-traumatic stress disorder 2000s American films