Road Hard

A few years ago, Adam Carolla starred in a great little movie called "The Hammer" and as I recalled it, he was this nice underdog boxer that you'd just want to root for even though part of you is saying that he probably didn't stand a chance. Now, Carolla has come back from his years of doing his usual podcast or radio personality gig, to deliver us yet another movie, marking his directorial debut, "Road Hard" and it has that same charm again, he plays a comedian whose world around him seems to come spiraling down when his movie and sitcom career has run dry, he's doing his best to hold his head above water and you want so badly to root for the guy to make a comeback but part of you is wondering if he'd stand a chance. And that same charm is what makes ROAD HARD another great little movie in my book.

Adam Carolla co-directed, co-scripted and starred in this comedy that's more or less inspired by his own experiences as a stand up comedian. Carol has had a great career but his character in this film, Bruce, hits a point in his life asking what the hell is he still doing out on the road while all of his other comedian friends seem to be getting good gigs either on TV or in movies. His old teammate now has his own talk show but Bruce has to keep traveling from one hotel room to the next. He's divorced and struggling to provide for his daughter who loves him. ROAD HARD really is mid-life crisis seen through the eyes of Adam Carolla and his writing partner, Kevin Hench. They pretty much did all they could to create this very miserable character, you can't hit a lower rock bottom than the one Bruce is experiencing, but as they say, when you're at the bottom, the only way to go is up and I think Carolla and Hench did a good job of slowly but surely constructing that light at the end of the tunnel again for Bruce, by letting the character prioritize first, listing things that matter to him in his life, before the hopeful conclusion.

I think ROAD HARD is fascinating in that it gives you a non-glamorous picture of the life of a comedian, it's not all laughs and giggles, you would think that because they're funny on stage, they could easily just brush off their day-to-day problems with a couple of jokes but they're just as doubtful and as frustrated, sometimes furious, as the rest of us. ROAD HARD is funny but also surprisingly heartwarming.

I don't think that this is a movie that kicks you when you're down, if anything, I think the level of misery is just the right amount for the audience and the character Bruce himself to see angles and openings either around the corner or ahead of you. And once again, Carolla brings that approachable sense to his character, something that I think Carolla doesn't have to try too hard to exude, because he's the kind of guy who may at first seem like you wouldn't want to gamble on him or take a chance on him, but if you do, it pays off.

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