Harsh Times (2005)

Chalk it up to whatever you wish - my status as a self-professed Bale-ophile, the fact that I normally don't have to try too hard to enjoy a movie, or the nine dollars that I spent on this movie as a blind buy - but I wish I could have enjoyed this movie more than I did. I myself am prepared to blame misleading expectations and a predominantly unsympathetic dramatis personae (and if that smacks of a thesis statement, it's those college days coming back to haunt me).

It had been explained to me as the story of an Iraq war veteran (Christian Bale) climbing to the top of the mafia, but that couldn't be more distant from the truth than Sean Penn's (in)famous aphorism "Jude Law is one of our finest." It seems to be the story of one man (Christian Bale) and his refusal to grow up, torn between job opportunity and a carefree life with his best friend (Freddy Rodriguez). I had expected the movie to be filled with moments like this:

Instead, it was filled with conflict between Rodriguez's character and his wife Sylvia, as played by Eva Longoria. Lord preserve us. Though Rodriguez was adequately gruff and mysterious in Planet Terror, here he's just uninspired. And Longoria couldn't be more emotionless, with an acting range so limited that even Keanu Reeves can do little but marvel "Whoa" at the sheer entropy.

Of course Christian Bale turns in a sterling performance, inhabiting the skin of Jim Davis as comfortably as Lock Martin zipped into the role of Gort in The Day the Earth Stood Still (I'm refusing to acknowledge the remake, I'm refusing to acknowledge the remake, I'm refusing...). Physical appearance aside, it's difficult to recognize that this is the same man who became (not merely acted as) Bruce Wayne, Dieter Dengler, and career definer Patrick Bateman. It's also near impossible to find fault with an actor of Bale's caliber, considering the full-on Bronson demonstrated by his substantial weight loss for the underrated Serling-esque The Machinist.

Unfortunately Bale is no miracle worker. Certainly his performance merits a viewing, but if only there were some way it could have been in a better vehicle. The script here is shoddy, marked by an embarassing overreliance on words like "ese" and "homie" to give a 'streets' feel to the whole thing. How Bale got his performance out of this movie, I'll never know.

Save your nine dollars and just watch that embedded YouTube clip again. Because honestly? That's the best scene of the movie (J.K. Simmons's near cameo notwithstanding).