Harsh Times DVD Review: The Unofficial Training Day sequel.

March 13th, 2007 in Drama, Dvd, Movies, Reviews

You probably missed this little gem last year. It hit theatres at the beginning of November and ran for a weak thirty-five days, making a measly three million domestically. You’d think a film starring desperate housewife Eva Longoria and Batman Begins’ Christian Bale would have generated a little more buzz and revenue than it had. If only they would have sold it as David Ayer’s follow-up to Denzel Washington’s Oscar-earning vehicle Training Day instead of a HBO crime movie, they may have found some fans.

Los Angeles crime has always caught the eye of Hollywood. Partially because of alleged police corruption that makes its way to newsstands, maybe a little brutality here and there, the excess of gang violence, or possibly because it happens to be in their own backyard. David Ayer seems to have found his own niche in the genre, writing about LA street racing (The Fast and the Furious) and a few corrupt cop stories (Training Day, Dark Blue, and S.W.A.T.). His newest offering, and directorial debut, Harsh Times is yet another film set in LA about two best friends falling on…well, harsh times.

When Jim Davis (Bale) returned from active duty as an Army Ranger, he left a little bit of his sanity on the battlefield. He still has nightmares of war and the occasional flashback from time to time that are common with soldiers from the front lines. Now that he’s home he wants to find a job that suits him. You know, something that he’d be good at. What else but law enforcement would let him feed his thirst for violence?

Mike Alonzo (Freddy Rodriguez) has his own career choices to make. After supporting his longtime girlfriend Sylvia through law school, he himself is having trouble finding work. Sylvia recognizes that she owes her boyfriend for the support he gave her, but is tired of Mike smoking and drinking his life away while living off her lawyer salary. Everyday his ‘job’ is to find a job. Everyday he fails. All he does is hang out with Jim as if they were still teenagers, doing drugs and getting drunk without a care in the world.

With Jim’s setbacks with the LAPD and Mike’s lack of callbacks, they decide to have a little fun to blow off some steam. Drugs and alcohol aren’t exactly accepted practices of law enforcement officers, but neither of them cares, seeing as Jim expects to have an authority position soon and will be able to get him and his friends out of trouble when the need arises. Needless to say, abuse of power was a major selling point for his desired profession. The more fun Jim and Mike have, the more trouble they get in. The more trouble they get in, the more of Jim’s sanity flies out the window. The story writes itself.

I am a huge fan of Training day (coincidentally I’m watching it as I type) and this movie fell right along the same lines. It’s about a messed up individual who thinks having a gun and a badge will give him the power to get away with anything on the streets of Los Angeles. Real scary stuff. David Ayer does a great job making this film seem realistic, going as far as having Jim’s ex-girlfriend being the same character (name and actress) that saved Ethan Hawke in Training Day. I guess that’s Ayer’s subliminal insertion to maintain some continuity between his films. I thoroughly enjoyed this movie and its story of the downward spiral that was Jim Davis’ life. I recommend any fan of Training Day or Christian Bale to find Harsh Times and watch it.

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