Larry Silverstein Bruce Madsen, portrayed by Adam Carolla, finds himself back on the road as a stand-up comic and quite miserable about it. Having gained a lot of celebrity from the TV series "Bro Show", but with no residuals coming in, and facing a huge college tuition bill for his daughter, Bruce feels he must endure the hassles of constant traveling while he waits for his agent to get him a better gig.The humor here is highly acerbic, raw, and biting, with lots of explicit sexual references and jokes throughout. The film is also very satirical of the shallowness and phoniness of the "suits" in show business, who have no qualms about demeaning others who come before them for approvals.To be honest, the movie got somewhat tiresome about mid-point, as it seemed to "hammer home" the same themes over and over. However, the filmmakers, Carolla and Kevin Hench, "righted the ship" and got it going again so that it finished in a most uplifting and enjoyable way.I thought Diane Farr was very charismatic in her role as Sarah, a possible love interest for Bruce, while Cynthy Wu added well to the mix as Bruce's daughter Tina. There's a myriad of comedians in the film, but I thought that David Alan Grier stood out, as well as the great Larry Miller, as Bruce's agent "Baby Doll", who's living the high life and is always surrounded by 3 ginormously breasted women.Overall, if the raw and explicit humor doesn't turn you off, you might find a number of laughs here, and a movie that definitely ends on a high note.

Steve Pulaski Adam Corolla and Kevin Hench's Road Hard is a wonderfully dark comedy, not just examining the principles and day-to-day life of being functionally lonely and starved for "something more," but giving us an uproariously funny and simultaneously dark illustration of the life of a struggling comedian. Films like this plunge us into worlds we either didn't put much thought into prior to seeing a film like this or worlds we simply shortchanged and didn't imagine could be so complex. Like I said when the tragic suicide of Robin Williams occurred in mid-2014, it's shocking how many comedians are seen laughing on the outside but crying on the inside.The film revolves around Corolla's Bruce Madsen, years after his acting career has stalled, leaving him to do a series of standup comedy routines at third rate comedy clubs just to make a living. He spends his nights in budget hotels, plagued by his divorce with his wife (Illeana Douglas) which has left him dead broke, seeing his partner Jack Taylor (Jay Mohr) on his old sitcom becoming a national success while his career flounders), and his own personal, stubborn attitude towards his fans and his current life situation. He trusts in his agent "Babydoll" (Larry Miller) to get him solid work, but all that materializes are more lackluster standup gigs, which pay low and demand a great deal of energy and time.Right off the bat, while we're given room to sympathize with Bruce during the film, we're also given room to criticize him. Corolla and Hench pen the character with just the right amount of likability and personal damnation that we can recognize that a large part of his problem is that he, himself, prevents him from getting anywhere. Bruce isn't a person to compromise, and while he is often the funniest soul in any room he is in, he looks down upon his audience, his fans, and the people in his life, in an immaturely condescending fashion that does nothing but block him from achieving any kind of success.Make no mistake, however, Bruce Madsen is also bound to be one of the funniest characters to be profiled on film this year. Bruce greatly reminds me of Larry David's playing his exaggerated self on HBO's Curb Your Enthusiasm, always getting himself into sticky situations because of his own inability to play the social game, admit fault, and constant need to make a bad situation worse by embellishing it (which also makes for great laughs). Consider the scene when Bruce decides to smoke half a cigarette in the bathroom of his hotel room, blowing the smoke into the air vent, and, upon arriving at the information desk to check out, realizes he is fined $250 his single cigarette. Rather than just admitting fault, Bruce has to make a scene, and, while it's a hilarious one, it clearly shows us why Bruce is stuck in this funk; he instigates and belittles, up until the point when he has alienated everyone within earshot.Countless examples of this run amok in Road Hard, but, like any embarrassing or humiliating story, such antics make for great comedy. One of the many brilliant scenes in the film show Bruce having trouble with one of his hotel keys, and editor Ryan Brown smoothly juxtaposes Bruce's struggles with getting his hotel key to work with Bruce doing a standup routine about faulty hotel keys and the embarrassment that ensues when trying to get the problem remedied. Such a scene shows how us comedy is extracted from our daily shortcomings, difficulties, and hardships, and seeing the comedy routine interjected with the actual struggle shows us just how funny the situation is, whether we recognize it while it's occurring or not.Road Hard, while bound to be one of the funniest films of the year, is also one of the saddest. It's a story of failing to live up to one's personal standards while being bogged down by one's personal ambitions. Bruce knows he is too good for certain jobs like being the warmup act for his best friend's late night TV show, but rather than trying out the job and seeing if he could work his way up, also earning a substantial, momentary income, he'll refuse and put up a fight, showing him as ungrateful and stubborn when he really knows what he's capable of and trying to live up to his personal standards. It's a sad circumstance that, I fear, many are going to be engaged in as the future comes; so many young people go into college with high ambitions and, while many emerge willing to do what they are permitted to do in a momentary sense in hopes to make big income later on, the select few that hold out and look for that right calling are viewed as lazy and unmotivated. Bruce isn't perfect in the slightest and has his own faults to speak of, but the fact Corolla, as a co-writer and an actor, won't sugarcoat those shows he recognizes those faults and portrays them in a humanizing light.Road Hard is another film made about comedians by a comedian, showing the kind of lifestyle that entails for a person who does everything in their power to make another person laugh. One character in the film remarks how it's not that the person on stage telling jokes at that particular time is the most important individual but no one else in the room is the least bit relevant. It's all them and one of the few times in the world where all eyes are on you and nothing is expected of anyone else. Road Hard examines different facets and components of Bruce's life that sadden and liven in equal parts, making for a shockingly uplifting experience for the emotions. Above all, however, it's hysterically funny and appropriately poignantly.

TriggerPullerUSMC Not sure how anyone can do a spoiler alert most who watch this will be fans will have heard each bit 20 times. So as someone that listens to his podcast I feel like I have heard every single bit in the movie. I basically rented a movie version of his podcast. And the worst part is Adam always hammers the hack moves of Hollywood but then he does a movie with hack moves. Downtrodden dude meets girl? Got it. Dude is forced to make a hard choice and we watch him think long and hard about a decision? Yep there he is pushing his broom at an apparently very difficult small pile of wood shavings. Cheesy manager? Yep and worst part is Adam talked about the wigs so much that it wasn't even interesting to me by the time I saw the movie. He just goes from podcast bit to podcast bit. If you listen to the show you basically got a full on preview the last 6 months as he jammed each bit at least 3 times. Dogs on planes? At least 5 different 20 minute rants. Teddy Pendergast played by DAG? So many times I lost count. I admit that bit is funny. Anyhow the movie is one tacky Hollywood scheme after another. And frankly he sucked at the stuff he bags on all the time. And Adam just cannot act- Road Hard is exactly the same character as The Hammer and both sound and look a lot like him on his 2 shows and it made me realize that something very sad is going on here Adam has low self esteem and beats himself up. He is often a broken record and even when he interviews guests he spends much more time talking about himself. I guess if you aren't a fan of the show the movie may seem like a cute indie flick. And most fans of the show are rabid so they'll love it. And bad reviews will be dismissed. I recently stopped listening to the show due to the repetitive nature of it. I don't have it out for Adam I just honestly thought it was a really bad movie. I gave it a 4 but I think I am being generous. Sorry Adam you blew it.

www.ramascreen.com 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.Check out more at Ramascreen.Com