Harsh Times, directed by the David Ayer, writer of Training Day, is the story of a former army ranger. Jim Luther Davis, played by Christian Bale, readjusting back to civilian life. Davis is one majorly conflicted guy. On the one hand he’s got his best friend Mike Alonzo (Freddy Rodriguez) and a penchance for chugging canned beer in his car, and on the other, straightening out, mid joint, to answer a phone call offering him a job at the Department of Homeland Security. He’s also got his “old lady”, a pretty Mexican girl (Tammy Trull) who lives in a tiny village in Mexico.

As in Training Day, Ayer places the majority of his scenes in moving cars. I guess, this is a way to keep things moving and pepper the dialogue, though Harsh Times in particular, is not exactly what you’d call plot heavy. I guess you can take this film as a mood piece, two guys cruising the streets of southern California, trying to be adults, and yet unable to repress their rather primitive intimacy.

Christian Bale is known for his extreme taste in film roles. He’ll always rank extremely high in my book for his amazing performance in American Psycho. I’m still not sure if he pulls off his character in Harsh Times. Somehow, I always see something somewhat refined and noble in his inner core, even when he’s spewing out the word “dude” every other sentence. As an actor he has a ton of intensity, but it seems kind of wasted here. His best friend Mike seems so wimpy in comparison, that the balance is off.

For a celebrated screenwriter like Avery, it’s hard not to be disappointed by much of the dialogue in this film. A few action sequences might have helped push things along, but this movie essentially boils down to immature adults chatting away about how they’re going to get wasted. The film gets boring pretty quickly.

Harsh Times is somewhat noteable for Bale’s character. A mentally disturbed vet who really wants to get back into the game, but this time on domestic soil. It’s terrifying, and Bale’s intense performance is the only thing driving an otherwise dull film.

Buy Harsh Times from Amazon.