neumu [ cinematronic ]




	Love The Hard Way
	Peter Sehr Adrien Brody, Charlotte Ayanna, Jon Seda, August Diehl, Pam Grier 2001		The commanding presence of wiry, intense Oscar-winning actor Adrien Brody ("The Pianist") and a revealing performance by promising young actress Charlotte Ayanna are not enough to put "Love the Hard Way" in the must-see category. A reheated dish of doomed romance on Noo Yawk's streets, the film is more soft-boiled than hard-boiled. Brody is very watchable as Bronx hustler and would-be writer Jack. With his partner Charlie (Jon Seda) and a pair of part-time actresses, Jack runs an elaborate swindle on sex-seeking foreign businessmen. All is hunky-dory until Jack meets fresh-faced grad student Claire (Ayanna), who's amused by his slick patter and unimpressed by his scamming ways. Jack is a live-for-today, love-'em-and-leave-'em-in-the-lurch guy in his personal life, but Claire's growing affection for him and his grudging interest in her have a deleterious effect on his illicit plans and her virtue. German director Peter Sehr gets the max out of his cast, which features the imposing Pam Grier ("Jackie Brown") as a woman of mystery and August Diehl as one of Jack's confederates. Only Brody's talent lets Jack be a fully realized character rather than a bundle of conflicting traits.