Harsh Times (2005, USA)

I finally found something that Christian Bale can’t do – play a homey from South Central L.A. Despite his intimidating physical presence (as in other films, like American Psycho and Batman Begins, there’s a tautness to his strength that makes you believe he’s liable to go off the rails at any time), it’s Bale’s carriage and voice that gives him away. It’s not that he’s too British for this role, it’s that he’s too classy. He’s just unbelievable as a lower-class white boy from the inner city.

Perhaps it’s not entirely Bale’s fault – the character is pretty badly written to begin with. Is Jim Davis a sociopath? Merely suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder? A combination of the two? It’s never made clear exactly what makes him so dangerous, and consequently, it’s hard to understand exactly what the movie is trying to say. As a Ranger in the Iraqi War, Bale’s character was an efficient killing machine, but back in the real world, he can’t seem to find a place to put all of this aggression. However, it’s also hinted that Davis may always have been a little psycho, and that the Army merely gave him the tools to bring out his more violent tendencies.

Perhaps all this could serve as the meat of a better film (something along the lines of, say, The Deer Hunter), but first-time director David Ayer doesn’t know how to build a structure around his story, and the entire movie feels flimsy, meandering towards a transparently ugly conclusion without giving the audience anything in the process. As for Bale, this was certainly an interesting risk for him to take at this point in his career, but he may have finally found one boundary for his otherwise impressive talents.