Customer Reviews

Love the Hard Way

5 star:		(11)
4 star:		(15)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(4)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Claire (Charlotte Ayanna) is a studious college student pursuing a degree in biology at a prestigious university. Jack (Adrien Brody) is a thief and con artist with a creative m.o. They come from two very different cultures and have disparate personalities. Yet, when they meet, they are immediately attracted to one another. Claire is drawn to Jack's scumminess and becomes infatuated with him. And although Jack tells himself that his attraction to Claire is purely physical, that may not be the whole story. When Claire's intense feelings begin to make him uncomfortable, Jack dumps her. Claire's devastation sends her on a self-destructive binge, and Jack, who feels responsible, follows suit.

"Love the Hard Way" was inspired by a Chinese novel, the production is European, and it was filmed in New York City with a mostly American cast. Although the film has a strong sense of taking place in a certain location among a particular sub-culture, the story is surprisingly universal. An emotionally distant man discovers, the hard way, that love may be what he seeks after all. And a caring but naive woman discovers that her life may be found in the world outside her sheltered environment. The performances in "Love the Hard Way" are all admirable. Adrien Brody fans will want to see this one. He is especially good here. Pam Grier is a welcome addition to the cast in a small role as a police detective. "Love the Hard Way" was shot in just over a month on a relatively small budget. But the film looks great and the attention to detail is commendable. Writer/director Peter Sehr, producer Wolfram Tichy, cinematographer Guy Dufaux, and Christian Nauheimer, the film's editor, have all done an excellent job of pulling off a very good film that looks very good with limited resources. Recommended if you like character dramas or offbeat, somewhat hard-boiled, love stories.

The DVD: The bonus features include a "making of" documentary, deleted scenes, a theatrical trailer, and a gallery of still photographs. If you have the time, I recommend the documentary. It's badly edited, too long (1 hour) and too repetitive, but it's interesting.

This dark drama turns precipitiously toward Greek tragedy before ending with brief optimism, that apparently has not yet been realized in a sequel.

A crime drama, character study and love story, "Love The Hard Way" is an unrelentingly interesting and involving feast for the senses with some incongruous moments that are saved by searing performances from the two leads -- Columbia University student Claire (Charlotte Ayanna) and Jack (Adrien Brody), the amoral leader of a group of confidence men and small time crooks.

The film traces the romantic and unromantic interactions between the two and intermingles a multi-layered and multi-faceted story about two people and change -- one that promises to change but increasingly exhibits betrayal, and another has everything going for her, who then changes much for the worse. While every step of the story stairacse is not credible, every moment of the chemistry between the two very beautiful leads is credible and burns up the screen (big or little) with passion.

The story, and the personal interactions between the characters, are all aided by on-location filming in gritty and grimy sections of New York City. The photography is noirish with dark streets, half-lit rooms, rainy evenings and all the trappings of a Richard Widmark crime drama from 1955. A good cast of relative unknowns supports the two leads in this interesting modern take on film noir.

Also look for Adrien Brody in two other fine dramas -- his Academy Award-winning performance in "The Pianist" and the much lower profile but still rewarding "Oxygen" where he plays a character more in keeping with Jack from this story.

It seems strangely coincidental that I saw this movie on cable late at night as well. Regardless of how I saw it, the movie was phenomenal in the sense it portrayed a form of reality in relationships, like "Requiem for a Dream" does. It is not a mushy lie and fabrication Hollywood innovated just to make you hope for a love that doesn't even exist like most romances. It portrays sacrifice between two lovers, a true and realistic sacrifice. But with such sacrifice comes sorrow, a deep seeded sorrow that seems irremovable by the end of the movie. It's up to you to watch it, obviously, but if you have loved and hurt before, it's the perfect cinematic piece of art to comfort your soul. I never thought a director could be so intelligent in the sense of seeing what love really means and then converting it into a piece of art.

I would have given this flick 4 star, but there were some plotting issues and areas where things didn't get developed as well as they should have. Claire is a grad student who gets straight A's, wanting to rebel she gets with Jack, the petty thief and secret writer, whose world is turned up upside-down by a combination of sex, true love, and loyalty. This film was very intense & leaves you thinking. Anyone, esp. women, who has fallen in love with a "dangerous/mysterious" type will surely relate to this because stories like hers are very common, although not everybody goes to such extremes.

Adrien Brody is an excellent actor and gives an interesting and subtle performance that he slowly let us in to the interior that lies under the criminal, streetwise exterior. The script doesn't actually explain how Jack Grace became the way he is. The sketchy details about his background he provides Claire could be a figment of his overactive imagination. So all we can do is watch Claire sink lower and lower, but eventually redeem herself. Charlotte Ayanna's performance as Claire was wonderful she has depicted this role without any annoying mannerisms and has pushed some realistic traits into her character. Pam Grier is also good in her "almost-cameo" role as the police officer who comes in and out of the lead characters' lives throughout the film as well as Jon Seda as Jack partner in crime and close friend.

`Love The Hard Way' is a bitter sweet love story that will make you think. It also provides some dark mysterious qualities. Peter Sehr is a great director. The cinematography and use of colors that he captures are wonderful. The plot is at once very unconventional, given that it isn't quite as linear as most...and yet has all the elements necessary for a successful drama. All around this movie is worth seeing.

This wonderful near miss of a movie was terribly treated by movie execs and critcs but the performance of Charlotte Ayanna alone is enough to make it deserving of a much better fate. From the moment she says "I'm dead" to the moment Jack goes to jail this flick is perfect and her performance as a devastated young woman on a downward spiral is painfully beautiful. Unfortunately, some clumsy dialog early in the flick and at the end made me wince but it wasn't enough to dilute the power of what Miss Ayanna did. This gal knows pain and was able to communicate it with breath taking honesty. And did I mention Adrian Brody? His performance is so real and watchable it's hard to understand how this movie passed so quickly under the radar. But all involved, including the director who did some wonderful things especially in that section I referred to above, should know that this movie will be penetrating the popular conciousness for decades to come. A special thanks to Miss Ayanna for having the courage to go deep into her soul where the meanings are.

I absolutely loved this movie! I cried my eyes out the first time I saw it. I once fell HARD for a street-wise bad boy myself and could relate to this movie on so many levels. Like Claire & Jack, my bad boy and I came from completely opposite backgrounds, he was the son of a non-functioning drunk and I grew up a preacher's kid. The attraction between Claire & Jack made perfect sense to me although, to any sane person looking on, it didnt make any sense at all. Like Claire, I was irrisistably drawn to my bad boy, could NOT get enough of him and would have willingly followed him to hell and back if he'd asked. My friends (and his) tried to warn me off and, yes, I had my heart bludgeoned on several occasions, but I never gave up on him. There was just something about him, so much potential - I just KNEW he could be great if I could only make HIM realize it. Over the course of our crazy relationship, I left home, much to my parents' distress but, thankfully, I didnt completely lose my mind like Claire did - I never lost my self respect. In the end, it was a hard road and I lost alot of my innocence; I'd been sheltered so much in my life up 'til then. Teaching him how to love and give and be thankful toughened me up, made me stronger emotionally, but it was worth every moment of self doubt, worth every tear. And now, my REFORMED bad boy and I have been happily married for 16 years this month. He's a wonderful, patient father to our son and is a sucessful, respected business man in our town. I wish they'd make a sequel to this movie so we can find out if Claire & Jack are as lucky in love as we've been!!

A complex character study involving two primary characters. Adrian Brody portrays Jack, an intriguingly two-sided figure. One side is literate and sensitive, creating a secret little "office" in a tiny, rental cubicle in which he studiously labors on a novel based on his second side: a violent, risk-taking con man who sets up foreign businessmen with hookers, then masquerades as a vice cop to shake them down. To further complicate his life, he meets and becomes infatuated with a brilliant but virginal movie house concession stand clerk named Claire (Charlote Ayanna). Claire is intrigued by Jack's dangerous side and strongly attracted to his sensitive side, and as a result, falls so deeply in love with him that she is willing to do anything to preserve their increasingly difficult relationship. "Anything" in this case includes drugs, prostitution, and other self-destructive behaviors. As is always the case, gentle people such as Claire cannot venture into this realm without paying a huge price, including complete emotional breakdown and fully intended, not simply "attempted", suicide. How will it end? Apparently even director Peter Sehr could not completely resolve this issue, but it appears that they settled on a sweet but rather ambiguous and unlikely "happy ending".

Plot synopsis aside, there is an equally interesting and unbelievable side story involving Charlotte Ayanna, the virginal Claire. Born in Puerto Rico and originally named Lopez (Ayanna, a stage name, means "blessed), her mother had serious psychiatric problems and as a result, she and her brother and sister were put into foster care and endured an impoverished childhood. Charlotte was in the system for 16 years before being adopted by a family in Vermont. She entered the Miss Teen USA contest, won the title of "Miss Vermont" and ultimately was crowned Miss Teen USA in 1993 wearing a $37 evening gown.

The movie is extremely "gritty" and at times rather depressing, but overall it is definitely worth the viewing time. The DVD deleted scenes include a scene that makes the ending far less ambiguous....be sure to watch.

I saw this movie as being a study in what people are capable of doing once their defenses get broken down.

Jack's character is actually more straightforward than Claire's. He's had a rough life, built strong bonds with a few friends and keeps everyone and everything else at a safe distance with a combination of wit, rudeness and honesty.

Claire's best defense is her own innocence. Once she's lost that, every choice is open and she pushes the wrong ones because she doesn't understand how to protect herself or why she should try.

What happens between the characters gets more interesting as Jack becomes aware of Claire's innocence just as he's taking it from her - he knows what's happening but can't stop himself either from continuing to hurt her or from caring about the damage he's doing. Claire is certain that she can get through Jack's defenses and is willing to do whatever it takes - even when it seems she's finally given up.

It took me three tries to get all the way through this movie, but once I did the strange editing made sense and I learned to really love these characters.

It was a horrible scenario in many ways, robbing people, prostitution, suicide attempts, not exactly the things you would find in a happy movie, but the point of the movie is that love can be so powerful it can encompass everything. Claire, being the perfect girl, or what appeared to be perfect, was missing something. She was beautiful and intelligent, but when Jack came along, she fell so over the top in love, that he was the only thing that mattered to her. It was sad that her existence hinged on a person who destroyed her, but she couldn't help it, her heart lead her in a completely opposite direction and the fact that she could not truly have him turned her into a bitter and careless person. Love is supposed to be giving and real. When a person truly loves, they give themselves to another person and hope the other person takes care of their heart, only sometimes it is the wrong person and they never figure out how to love. This movie hit too close to home I think.

I happened upon this movie at my local Blockbuster in the previously viewed DVD section. I saw Brody's work in "Ten Benny" and enjoyed that movie. I haven't seen "The Pianist" and I am reluctant to do so because it has all the trappings of a pseudo intellectual "art house" favorite. You know the kind that generates "buzz" in all the right circles, compelling those who want to be in the in crowd to see it and hurl all the film-scholl inspired adjectives they can muster at it. Before you know it people standing in line at Target who don't know the difference between f-stop and f-troop are hailing it as a moody, intense work of art. Then you go see it and you wonder what the heck all the fuss was about....."Memento" springs to mind as well.

This movie is different. If you go in not expecting much, and having never heard of it, I expected nothing then it's hard to be disappointed. Okay, you may not be able to toss the title or selected quotes from the movie around amongst those you'd like to impress, but who cares? Movies are art, and art is subjective.

You've seen countless plot summaries in this forum so I will spare you my interpretation. I think that this is a great little movie. It doesn't aspire to change the world. It offers a glimpse into the underbelly of society, and the people who inhabit it, visit it and police it. I think Adrien Brody is great in this as is Jon Seda. Charlotte Ayanna has been getting a bad rap here but I think those reviewers miss the point of her role. She's playing a young naive, sheltered woman. That may indeed come off as annoying to some but that is her character also. I feel despite her naivete she knows that there is a softer Jack below the surface and will do anything to reach him, even to her own detriment. Hats off to Ms. Ayanna! I think she did wonderfully. Pam Grier is great as the detective out to get Jack and his crew. I loved this movie and can't think of a better way to escape for 104 minutes than to watch this movie.

The bonus feature documentary is great too, if a little long. It's also rather amusing to see them refer to this as a "low budget" project in the voice over as you see the massive crew and ridiculous amounts of set-up they are undertaking with each scene. I guess "low budget" is a relative term depending on the depths of one's pockets. This film is wonderfully lit and shot, however. It has a gritty feel that matches the urban setting perfectly. The hip hop soundtrack helps reinforce the "we on the wrong side of the tracks now" vibe...

BUY THIS MOVIE!! You won't be dissapointed!