Harsh Times

Roommate Gil and I caught the movie Harsh Times over at the Magic Johnson Cinema in Crenshaw. I usually don't go down to the Magic Johnson to see movies, since the seats are a little uncomfortable, but, the Crenshaw District seemed a more appropriate to see a movie about South-Central, even if that part of the Shaw is way Buppie. Pity there isn't a cinema in the heart of South-Central. Avalon and Florence, perhaps.

The movie is about a shell-shocked ex-soldier and his buddy in South LA who are torn between their old-neighborhood ways and trying to make the jump into something more legit.

Christian Bale is very watchable.

The film takes place over a week while the main charaters are looking for work, spending their time acting like the young wannabe bangers they used to be. But the ex-soldier, now quite traumatized, can't navigate and change gears between street life, soldier's life, corporate life, and love, and ends up hurting everyone.

In a way, the movies is about identity: Everyone in this town has to be different versions of themselves depending on what neighborhood they're in.

One critic said the plot was pretty thin, but, I liked that. It is more of a character study, and a slower film that you might guess from the trailers.

I was impressed with the dialog, flipping between corporate English, Chicano English, Spanish. I got it, but, I wonder just how comprehensible this film is to Regular Joe. Even so Christian Bale's accent, and Freddy Rodriguez's accent as well, just didn't fit the words they were saying. They just don't sound Angelino.

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My Space's Johnny Boy and Jon
are two other bloggers that saw the movie.