charlytully Review of The Hard Easy

The Hard Easy (2006)

This movie makes it EASY to see why crime is HARD

[6/10 · 14 April 2009]

I've always wondered why in movies folks can shoot off 200 or 300 rounds from AK-47s at someone such as Sylvester Stallone, Bruce Willis, or Arnold Schwarzenegger without drawing blood, while in real life a cop will draw his service revolver thinking it's his TAZER and kill someone dead. The first person (of 11) shown shot to death in this film is snuffed out in that gray area of accidentally-on-purpose, which seems more realistic than the events of most crime flicks. (This victim is the only black character in THE HARD EASY, but this is no doubt the result of random unconsciousness on the part of first-time director Ari Ryan.) Ryan uses a lot of restraint (which he credits to his limited CGI budget during the DVD "bonus" director's interview) in pulling back from a RESERVOIR DOGS-level of violence, so when it appears a loan shark is cutting off the main character's pinkie, it later turns out it was "only" broken (and a "clean" break, at that!). If film-goers were given a prospectus on the 11 main characters in advance, they probably would put the two eventual survivors among their top three to "stay on the island." Therefore, this movie gets the maximum rating its limited budget and corresponding cast could hope to attain.