Love the Hard Way (2001)

The story of a petty thief who meets an innocent young woman and brings her into his world of crime while she teaches him the lessons of enjoying life and being loved.

Director:

Peter Sehr

Writers:

Shuo Wang (novel), Peter Sehr (screenplay),

Stars:

Adrien Brody, Charlotte Ayanna, Jon Seda

4 wins & 1 nomination.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Adrien Brody	...	Jack Grace
Charlotte Ayanna	...	Claire Harrison
Jon Seda	...	Charlie
August Diehl	...	Jeff
Pam Grier	...	Det. Linda Fox
Liza Jessie Peterson	...	Pam
Elizabeth Regen	...	Sue
Katherine Moennig	...	Debbie
Joey Kern	...	Fitzgerald
Jonathan Hadary	...	Boris
Michael G. Chin	...	Asian Businessman #1
Ben Wang	...	Asian Businessman #2
Huan Wang	...	Asian Businessman #3
Ned Stresen-Reuter	...	Brian
Michaela Conlin	...	Cara, Jack's Lover

Storyline

The story of a petty thief who meets an innocent young woman and brings her into his world of crime while she teaches him the lessons of enjoying life and being loved.

---

Plot Keywords:

thief | self destructiveness | watching tv | nudity | staten island new york city | 

---

Genres:

Drama | Crime | Romance

---

Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated R for sexual content, language and violence

Details

Official Sites:

official site [us]

Country:

Germany USA

Language:

French Spanish German English Russian

Release Date:

27 March 2003 (Germany)

Also Known As:

Amar al límite

Filming Locations:

Bronx, New York City, New York, USA

Box Office

Opening Weekend:

$10,721 (USA) (6 June 2003)

Gross:

$43,571 (USA) (11 July 2003)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Vif Babelsberger Filmproduktion GmbH & Co. Dritte KG, P'Artisan Filmproduktion GmbH, TiMe Film- und TV-Produktions GmbH

Technical Specs

Runtime:

104 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Quotes

Claire: You can't smoke in here.
Jack: Oh No?
[Pulls an ashtray out of his pocket and sets it on the table]
Jack: Now I can.

---

Connections

References Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome (1985)

---

Soundtracks

"Slippin' Away"
Performed by Me and the Other Guy
Written by Didi Gutman and Rahj

User Reviews

Con-man with a tough exterior and a soft center

Adrien Brody plays a hard-boiled con-man who lures Japanese businessmen into assignations with hand-picked call-girls - and then poses as a vice cop in order to extract bribes for overlooking their transgressions. Pam Grier is equally hard-boiled as a real detective vowing to end his shake-down enterprise. The cynical scam artist's life becomes increasingly complicated when he meets a beautiful graduate student who falls for him. It isn't long before she has dismantled his tough exterior to reveal a sensitive soul who dreams of being a writer. He resists the girl's efforts to get him to reform, and subsequently rejects her, so she decides on a dangerous strategy to win him back. In different hands - and with a less talented cast - 'Love The Hard Way' would likely be a horrible mess. In this instance writer/director Peter Sehr and cinematographer Guy Dufaux avoid the usual traps and invest the story with some genuine originality - while Brody and Charlotte Ayanna give the star-crossed lovers poignant depth as they wind their tormented way towards a resolution of their problems. Like the movie itself, they walk a tightrope between the gritty and sentimental, and it turns out to be an unusually moving journey.