Harsh Times

"Take A Ride To The Edge"

2005 1h 56m EN

😐

6.4

MID

🥫

48%

ROTTEN

😬

METACRITIC

⭐

6.8

IMDB

★6.4TMDB · 813🥫48%Rotten Tomatoes●56Metacritic★6.8IMDB · 70,229

CrimeDramaThrillerAction

Synopsis

Spoiler shield

Jim Davis is an ex-Army Ranger who finds himself slipping back into his old life of petty crime after a job offer from the LAPD evaporates. His best friend is pressured by his girlfriend Sylvia to find a job, but Jim is more interested in hanging out and making cash from small heists, while trying to get a law enforcement job so he can marry his Mexican girlfriend.

“Take A Ride To The Edge”

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Cast

Christian Bale
Jim Luther Davis
Freddy Rodríguez
Mike Alonzo
Eva Longoria
Sylvia
Chaka Forman
Toussant
Tammy Trull
Marta
J.K. Simmons
Agent Richards
Michael Monks
Agent Hollenbeck
Samantha Esteban
Letty

Credits

Behind the camera

Director: David Ayer
Writers: David Ayer
Languages: English, Spanish, Korean
Countries: United States of America

Want more? Switch to Cinephile mode in the header for DP, composer, budget, box office, production companies, keywords, and release history.

Did you know?

Fun facts 🍿

1 / 8

MONEY

Did you know

Shot for just $2.0M — micro-budget by Hollywood standards.

MoodPlayr · trivia#01

2 / 8

MONEY

Did you know

Made its money back 3.0× over at the box office.

MoodPlayr · trivia#02

3 / 8

ERA

Did you know

Released 21 years ago.

MoodPlayr · trivia#03

4 / 8

WORLD

Did you know

Dialogue crosses 3 languages: English, Spanish, Korean.

MoodPlayr · trivia#04

5 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Directed by David Ayer, shot by Steve Mason. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.

MoodPlayr · trivia#05

6 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Original score by Graeme Revell. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.

MoodPlayr · trivia#06

7 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Editor Conrad Buff IV shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.

MoodPlayr · trivia#07

8 / 8

RUNTIME

Did you know

Christian Bale and Freddy Rodríguez and Eva Longoria carry the top of the cast.

MoodPlayr · trivia#08

Cinephile deep dive

The take

David Ayer directs. Steve Mason behind the camera. Graeme Revell scores. Conrad Buff IV cuts. Profitable at the box office. Produced in United States of America. Dialogue in English, Spanish, Korean.

Trivia

Things worth knowing

1Shot for just $2.0M — micro-budget by Hollywood standards.
2Made its money back 3.0× over at the box office.
3Released 21 years ago.
4Dialogue crosses 3 languages: English, Spanish, Korean.
5Directed by David Ayer, shot by Steve Mason. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.
6Original score by Graeme Revell. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.
7Editor Conrad Buff IV shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.
8Christian Bale and Freddy Rodríguez and Eva Longoria carry the top of the cast.
9Marketing tagline: "Take A Ride To The Edge".
10IMDB entry: tt0433387 — still the authoritative cross-reference for credits and trivia.
11Classified under 11 themes, including "prostitute", "post-traumatic stress disorder (ptsd)", "drug use", "friends".

The technical file

Cinematography: Steve Mason
Original score: Graeme Revell
Editing: Conrad Buff IV
Production design: Devorah Herbert
Costume design: Michele Michel
Runtime: 116 min · 1h 56m
Aspect ratio (typical): 1.37:1 (Academy)
Status: Released
Budget: $2,000,000
Box office: $6,000,000
Return: 300% of budget
Original language: EN
Certification (US): R
IMDB: Harsh Times (2005)
Rotten Tomatoes: 48% 🥫 Rotten
Metacritic: 56/100
IMDB rating: 6.8/10 · 70,229 votes
MPAA: R

Awards

2 nominations total

Also by

David Ayer

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Trailers & featurettes

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Community reviews

What people are saying

John Chard2019-09-19
★ 8/10
I'm a soldier of the apocalypse, man! Harsh Times is written and directed by David Ayer. It stars Christian Bale, Freddy Rodriguez, Eva Longoria, Chaka Forman, Tammy Trull, J.K. Simmons and Michael Monks. Music is by Graeme Revell and cinematography by Steve Mason. South Central Los Angeles, and best friends Jim Luther Davis (Bale) and Mike Alonzo (Rodriguez) begin hurtling into violence that threatens to derail their respective future plans. This was to be David Ayer's directorial debut, and with him already boasting the writing credit for Training Day, the comparisons between the two are hard to ignore - but that's ok right?! Bale goes full tilt as the unpredictable and unnerving Jim Davis, a scarred Gulf War Veteran on a road to self destruction. Question is, will he take his best friend with him? This is very much about Bale's barn storming show, which while it thrills us greatly, it also hinders the Rodriguez characterisation of Lopez, making the pic a bit lop-sided. Narrative threads focus on the scrapes the pair get into, whilst in the background their love partners are waiting for their men to wake up and commit. Another features Davis suffering bad dreams from the war, all while he is head hunted by Homeland Security after he had failed to get into the LAPD. Davis firmly believes he belongs in the protection business, if only his habit for finding trouble wasn't so prevalent... The violent action scenes are brisk and bloody, marking this out as a hard movie for sure, a hard movie with dialogue to match. Yet it's also a pic laced with black comedy, where there's a perverse pleasure in watching Davis and his not very bright cohort being bad boys. Longoria is not done any favours in the writing, but it's kind of ok since this really is about a friendship spiralling towards a day of reckoning that we obviously know is coming. Which when it comes to us, does not disappoint at all and leaves us some reflecting to do as the adrenaline finally slows down. 7.5/10

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