Harsh Times
Bauer Martinez Studios | Release Date: November 10, 2006 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
56
METASCORE
Mixed or average reviews based on 24 Critic Reviews
Positive:
12
Mixed:
10
Negative:
2
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Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
88
New York PostKyle Smith
If Martin Scorsese were 30 and a Los Angeleno, he'd be making movies much like this one. Read full review
83
Entertainment WeeklyLisa Schwarzbaum
Bale is mesmerizing and Rodriguez keeps up with him as the whole unsafe contraption zooms. Read full review
75
ReelViewsJames Berardinelli
Harsh Times occasionally echoes "Taxi Driver," Ayer's own "Training Day," and even "First Blood" in the way it examines the psychological disintegration of a character and the seduction of amorality. Read full review
75
San Francisco ChronicleRuthe Stein
All along, you know something terrible is going to happen, and when it does, you leave the theater shaken and deeply moved. Read full review
75
Miami HeraldPeter Debruge
Not since "To Live and Die in L.A" has there been such a raw, cynical vision of living and dying in L.A. Read full review
75
Philadelphia InquirerSteven Rea
Bale brings intense energy (and a convincing American accent) to the proceedings, and the film manages to make this borderline Travis Bickle into a sympathetic character - with a sweetheart, and a sweeter life, beckoning from south of the border. Strong stuff. Read full review
75
TV Guide MagazineKen Fox
With his ersatz-gangsta swagger, the once-again buff Bale gives it his all -- he's got to be the most committed actor in Hollywood -- but the real surprise here is Rodriguez, who has all the talent and charisma of a major star. Read full review
70
Chicago ReaderJ.R. Jones
Debuting as director, Ayer once again points his loose cannon directly into the body politic: the protagonist of this sour but haunting tale is a crazed army ranger just returned from overseas (Christian Bale) who's so full of war that even the LAPD won't hire him. Read full review
67
The A.V. ClubNoel Murray
Ayer gets lost in a maze of ironies, and has to bulldoze his way to an exit. For a while, Harsh Times is thrillingly hard to predict. By the end, it becomes all too easy. Read full review
67
Austin ChronicleJosh Rosenblatt
Rodríguez is excellent as Mike. Read full review
63
Chicago TribuneMichael Wilmington
Harsh Times, is almost a good, salty urban thriller. Read full review
63
The Globe and Mail (Toronto)Rick Groen
Harsh Times opens with a deadly nightmare and ends with a vast bloodbath -- in between, things get a little gruesome. Read full review
60
VarietyTodd McCarthy
A psychotic seizure of a performance by Christian Bale dominates Harsh Times, the directorial debut of David Ayer that channels "Taxi Driver." Read full review
58
Seattle Post-IntelligencerSean Axmaker
Well-intentioned but not very well directed, it makes for a better psychological profile than a film. Read full review
58
Baltimore SunMichael Sragow
For most of its meandering running time Harsh Times is just a rough South Central L.A. buddy movie. Read full review
50
The Hollywood ReporterFrank Scheck
The film's unrelenting bleakness and misanthropic tone is likely to be a turnoff to mainstream performances, but it provides its lead actor with another opportunity to display his riveting intensity. Read full review
50
The New York TimesStephen Holden
Mr. Bales's spectacular technical performance of a toxic bad boy on the fast track to hell somehow lacks an inner core. Read full review
50
Los Angeles TimesMichael Ordona
Harsh Times goes down like the vinegar its protagonist chugs to try to beat a drug test. It's carefully crafted, exasperating and ugly, a festival of self-destructiveness, in all ways a reflection of its lead as brought to careening, erupting, implosive life by Christian Bale. Read full review
50
New York Daily NewsJack Mathews
The result is an angry, violent mess of a movie with a central character threatening to implode right on the screen. Read full review
50
Film ThreatPete Vonder Haar
Give Harsh Times an "E" for effort, but not much else. Read full review
40
Village VoiceJim Ridley
Whatever political statement Ayer intended to make with his Gulf War veteran turned human time bomb is swamped by the movie's obnoxious badass envy, and Bale's gloating display of American-psycho fireworks, the kind of vein-popping show-boating that might as well be performed in a mirror. Read full review
40
Washington PostDesson Thomson
The film amounts to a harsh and perpetual assault on viewers' sensibilities -- not only because of its violence but because of its overall bleakness. Read full review
38
Boston GlobeWesley Morris
The real problem with Harsh Times is Jim himself. Bale goes at the part with his usual intensity, but the character still seems like a psycho without psychology or a soul. Read full review
38
Charlotte ObserverLawrence Toppman
Harsh Times contains exactly 30 seconds of novelty. Read full review
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