Harsh Times and Candy (DVD)

Harsh Times - The concept of Harsh Times sounds brilliant. Iraq vet Jim Davis returns home with post tramautic stress disorder, applies to the LAPD and in the meantime, gets caught up with local gang life. Davis has no problem sinking into an unsavory lifestyle because, let's face it, he's done worse. As an added bonus, the filmmakers hire two of the best working actors for the leads: Christian Bale and Freddy Rodriguez. Instead, Harsh Times mostly falls flat, despite solid performances by Bale and Rodriguez. Taxi Driver this film is not. Bale's Davis falls dangerously close to stereotype while Eva Longoria offers little more than eye candy. The really sad part is that writer/director David Ayer has traversed this territory before and with much better results (Training Day). Harsh Times is so good in spots and then... it just goes so wrong. It does suffer from worrisome editing and pacing at times. Had the film been whittled down to 90 minutes, it might have fit the "intense" bill that Ayer was aiming for. The dialogue is laughable at best. Someone even utters the words "hella cool" at one point. Now that I'm done complaining, allow me to praise one of my new favorite actors: Freddy Rodriguez who shined with his dark and realistic role. He definitely tried his hardest to keep the plot and climax from falling, managing to do so at times. Creating one of the only truly touching moments in the film, he tried his best to communicate with Bale on the theme of brotherhood and deception. Loved Rodriguez, and loved specific parts of the movie very much. It's just a shame that they couldn't carry the same intensity throughout the whole film.

Grade: C-

Candy - Granted, the drug genre is a bit tired. If I see another painful withdrawal scene, I think I'll scream or something. Still, within this tired genre, a true gem squeaks through every now and again. Candy is a good movie that could have been great but at least gives us a few incredible performances from Heath Ledger and Abbie Cornish. Ledger stars as Dan, a troubled yet likeable juvenile-come-poet who is in love with Cornish's Candy, a part time artist who falls head over heels in love with Dan... and heroin. Ledger's understated performance gives Dan a boyish vulnerability that would otherwise leave him less sympathetic. He has a great ability to use his eyes to communicate his emotions (which was probably what got him an Oscar nomination for Brokeback Mountain). Cornish, too, is brilliant as the often abrasive troubled artist. She's at times an innocent and beautiful angel and other times a wasted bitch. Geoffery Rush is superb as well in a supporting role. What sets it apart from other druggie movies is the love between Dan and Candy. Call it Trainspotting meets Romeo & Juliet. Maybe that will help you get through some of the grittier and depressing scenes. Their story is affectionate, painful, hopeful and hopeless. It's an intense and unpleasant film but it's still very watchable and well done. It's harsh but beautiful. It's not a perfect movie (it drags a bit now and then) but it's still worth watching (as is the career of Abbie Cornish).

Grade: B+