HARSH TIMES (2005)

Cast

Plot

In a dark, moody South Central Los Angeles, with its drug dealers, gangs, prostitutes etc, ex-squaddie Jim, plagued by nightmares from the Iraq war, alternates between drifting back into a life of petty crime and drugs, with best buddy Mike, and hanging out south of the border with his mamasita, Marta, for whom he's promised a US visa. Mike's yuppy girlfriend is hauling him on to the straight and narrow and after Jim's job application with the LAPD goes down in flames an offer of a federal job killing spic drug dealers in Columbia means he must choose between career and Marta. This is very much the 'Mean Streets of LA' with Bale in fine form as the pscyhotic Jim. Top notch movie that deserves a bigger commercial exposure than it got.