NEW YORK -- The directorial debut of "Training Day" screenwriter David Ayer, "Harsh Times" is a similarly brutal portrait of life on the mean streets of Los Angeles. Starring Christian Bale as an Iraq War veteran who can't suppress his violent rages, the film's unrelenting bleakness and misanthropic tone is likely to be a turnoff to mainstream performances, but it provides its lead actor with another opportunity to display his riveting intensity.

Still haunted by his nightmarish experiences during the war, Jim Davis (Bale) is desperate to find work in civilian law enforcement. Between his job-seeking efforts, he drags childhood buddy Mike (Freddy Rodriguez) for daylong excursions that include plenty of drinking, pot smoking and violent encounters with a variety of lowlifes.

Mike, who has promised his yuppie wife (Eva Longoria) that he will spend his time on his own job search, can't resist his friend's entreaties despite becoming increasingly wary of his dark and extreme mood swings.

In a plot development that will not encourage trust of our nation's security forces, Jim is offered a job with the Department of Homeland Security, but his hiring is imperiled by his recent indulgence in marijuana. Meanwhile, he must wrestle with his feelings for the beautiful woman in Mexico whom he has promised to marry.

The episodic screenplay, apparently written years before "Training Day," ultimately adds up to little more than a series of emotionally and physically tumultuous set pieces demonstrating the increasingly unhinged Jim's propensity for self-destruction. But the director-screenwriter clearly has a knack for capturing the underbelly of urban life, with the characterizations and situations on display here having the ring of truth even at their most extreme.

Spending two hours with the lead character would be an untenable experience save for Bale's charisma, well displayed here in a performance that would generate award consideration in a weightier film. Rodriguez, though his character has far less to do other than provide increasingly aghast reactions to his friend's excessive behavior, delivers a highly sympathetic turn, while Terry Crews and J.K. Simmons, among others, register strongly in supporting roles.