Harsh Times (2005)
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0433387/
The movie’s first minutes picture a military night operation, mostly seen from the night-vision goggles of American soldiers. The other battling side is Middle East insurgents.
Jim Davis (Christian Bale) is one of the U.S. soldiers – he will find unemployment when back at home.
Davis’ unemployment days are “harsh times”. Mike Alonzo (Freddy Rodríguez of Six Feet Under fame) is in similar situation: no job and unsuccessfully (not) looking for one. Alonzo’s big difference is that he never killed a person, while Jim is portrayed as a killing machine, mentally disturbed with hallucinations of his deeds.
The duo spends the time smoking pot and cruising unfriendly neighborhoods. Other diversions include drinking, throwing Alonzo’s résumé out of the car’s window, efforts to sell an illegal gun, and fake phone calls to convince Alonzo’s girl that he did try to find a job, during the day.
It reads like the poorest grounds for a good movie, but the characters are solid and the action effectively develops to involving scenes. It doesn’t end well, but “Harsh Times” manages to teleport the viewer to a context of “everything goes” world, where people aren’t quite sure of what is most important: personal relations, money or jobs.
My rating: 7.5/10
Buy it via: amazon.com [Americas] ; amazon.co.uk [Europe]
Check the official trailer:
Here is an interview, with Freddy Rodríguez, about Harsh Times:
Monday 19 Mar 2007 | am | movies, movies reviewed, movies seen