There are those who take the words written on the side of their police cruisers seriously -- "To protect and serve." And then there are the testosterone junkies, the thugs, the guys who enjoyed "busting heads for the military" and the adrenaline rush they got from combat. They're a little too eager to sign up and a little too wise to "the system."

	Jim Sheldon Freddy Rodriguez, left, and Christian Bale star in "Harsh Times." Click photo for larger image.

That's who Christian Bale plays in "Harsh Times" (), a gritty, nervous and amateurish amble through a couple of days on the rough side of L.A.

Buzzcut and bad-eyed, Bale's Jim Davis only wants to be a cop. Harsh times call for harsh men, and Jim is as harsh as they get. After six years in the Army Rangers, he can injure or kill without compunction. But the LAPD is leery of him.

So we follow Jim and his pal Mike (Freddy Rodriguez) as they cruise the city in Jim's faux cop car, supposedly looking for jobs but basically looking for trouble.

Writer-director David Ayer self-financed this picture, and the endless scenes of the two guys riding along, venting and cursing, play like acting-class exercises, badly written ones at that. Ayer's destination, a study of a marginal personality and how he might be given power in our name, by our government, is fascinating. But the slow, haphazard, buddy-picture path he takes (think "Training Day," only inept) leaves "Harsh Times" in the ditch.

Rated R for strong violence, language and drug use.