User reviews

Ok! I love stories about artists - writers, poets, artists, musicians, comedians - but I really didn't expect to like this. Two of the writers are also the directors and one of the writers is also the star! Recipe for disaster!

Except it's not quite. It's billed simplay as a comedy but it's more a delayed rom com.

The progression through the story is engaging. Adam Carolla (who I have never heard of, unlike some reviewers here) plays an excellent part and Diane Farr is simply brilliant as the love interest. The other actors are excellent, too, even those in bit pats and there are far too many to mention.

It may not be a laugh-out-loud movie - that depends on your frame of mind when watching it - but it is 'amusing' and it did keep me watching. It's a solid piece of work and if you enjoy a touch of rom with your com or simply like to see a little of the world of stand up then this will be worth your while.

Unlike many here, I had never heard of Adam Carolla before I happened on this movie.

I liked it. Yeah, it's a little formula. But it does the formula well. Would it have worked as a big-budget Hollywood rom-com? Who cares? The home movie feel of it is a character in its own right. The performances are all good, the main plot is brilliant (stand-up who's so-so on-stage but hilarious in real life; good set-up for a portrait of a guy busting his head to make it in show-biz), and Howie Mandel kills as himself in a bit part that's simultaneously reality-TV immediate and probably not him at all.

Bottom line: this guy did good with what he had. It's watchable. You'll wish the character well. You'll understand his predicament. You'll be glad you rode along on his roller-coaster.

My quick rating - 6,0/10. I know this may be biased since I do remember the days of being in junior high and staying up late to listen to Drew and Adam on Loveline late at night before bed. Adam Corolla was always and still is a very witty comedian which is basically what this movie is about. I am not sure just how accurate this movie is but I know a lot of it is his story. That being said, his acting is just him being, well, him. The additional characters in the movie do a good job in support, even to the point of ridiculous (Larry Miller stole the show here as Baby Doll) Even when there was time to show a bit of emotion it still was believable. Overall a funny drama about the stand up world that I am sure is very true for some and worth a watch to fans of comedy.

Wow, what a surprise. Wasn't expecting much from this film tonight. Got a free AMAZON PRIME subscription and decided to check out some films this week. Tonight was "Road Hard". I thought, if it sucks i can flip it off after 10 minutes, no hassle - just find another. But after an hour I was still engaged. I'm not engaged easily.

First and foremost, this is a very well written movie. The dialog is honest, true - and funny. That's a hard combination to do and do well. Perhaps it's because I'm a middle aged man searching for all the same answers Bruce Madsen was, or just simply appreciated the honesty in the script, acting and dialog. Whoever cast this film should get a huge pat on the back. You know some films where your 10 minutes in and think "who the hell cast this thing, none of these actors have chemistry or remotely fit their characters!!!". Been there, done that. Not here. No way. This is perfection. Yes, there are several well known actors in this film, but several that aren't - and EVERYONE does a fantastic job. The story flows like a river knowing where it's going - and the actors tug at your heart frequently.

It's films like this that re-instill my faith in Hollywood. That make me more willing to take a chance on a film, even though a major, proved actor isn't a part of it. This film is so much better than so many other films I've seen this year with a budget much larger. What a gem. What a diamond in the rough. Don't hesitate, watch this. You won't be sorry!

Adam Carolla co-wrote, co-directed and stars as Bruce Madsen. A comedian who made it big with a hit sitcom but since it ended, he is back on the road playing small clubs while his former partner is a successful talk show host.

Bruce lives in the garage of his former marital home. His ex wife does not like him being in her house even to visit their adopted daughter who is looking to go to college. Bruce is happy in the garage, he spent more time there when he was married doing woodwork.

Bruce is funny, his humour is acerbic. Bruce knows this and he sees himself as being funnier than a lot of comedians that are on television. However as his very successful ex comedy partner Jack Taylor (Jay Mohr) reminds him that Bruce did not play the game to stay at the top. Being funny is not enough to sustain a showbiz career.

Road Hard is a bittersweet comedy looking at life of a comedian who is past his prime. It actually is funny in a low key way. Obviously Carolla has seen guys like Bruce or he might even be Bruce himself. However Carolla is not a strong enough actor here, his character comes across as one note. It is also hard to sympathise with his character. Bruce's agent (Larry Miller) and friends are correct that if only he kissed some butt and played the game, he would be more successful.

I think Ace is genius in all ways and this movie is no exception.For all these crappy reviews,(and reviewers) people just don't seem to understand how he thinks. To make a movie with funds raised by fans is no small feat! So resembling his life and true hardships. Loved it! Love the Ace Man.......👊👍

First off, I think that Adam Carolla is hilarious and listen to his Podcast almost daily. However, when watching this movie, I felt as though I was watching his Podcast playing out in cinema form. Now, this probably wouldn't be a bad thing for viewers who do not listen to his Podcast. Almost every bit/joke in the movie I have literally heard over and over from his podcast.

The funniest bits from the movie are when Adam is telling jokes during live stand up shows in the comedy clubs. I know it's a comedy but some things are just over the top, like the portrayal of his quirky Agent Baby Doll. How many wig jokes can you make in a movie? This movie was very disappointing and in my opinion not very funny regardless of every joke already being heard on his podcasts. I know Adam is not an actor per say, but he's bad in this movie. He shows almost no emotion and he's very stiff throughout the entire movie. The supporting actors are also not very funny.

I really wanted to like this movie because I think that Adam Carolla is a comical genius, but in reality, he needs to stick to his Podcast and TV shows because being an actor in movies is not in his wheelhouse.

' ' ' Yeah! One of the few movies I've had laugh-out-loud moments in, for years.

Carolla really nails the mid-life crisis moments of a career gone off the rails, slowly, inexorably, unexplainably, or really never having one, as one turns the corner in life to realize it ain't gonna happen. Every man will recognise Carolla's character, sack-kicks, the humiliation and smile to themselves.

The smoking/credit card scene is worth the price of admission.

They don't make movies like this anymore—Although they just did, eh?—as it's just a decent story, with good character development.

John Candy used do flicks like this, that didn't do box-office boffo, but were just good little flicks.

I think this'll do a lot better in rotation, than it did in the theatres.

It's for a different audience than your action-oriented fan but well worth the time.

SweetDoug

A few people have written outstanding critiques about this film. As far as Adam's acting, he seemed as if he wasn't even in the moment of what was happening. He seemed as if he was distracted and/or exhausted possibly due to his other projects. I know that his character is actually tired of everything in his life anyway, but Adam delivered everything in the same monotone manner even when his character's life was improving.

Also, when I was in film school I received outstanding advice: never let a low budget movie LOOK like it's low budget. I never felt as if I was watching a well-produced feature film.

It's just a below average effort to me. I like some its messages such as the pull of L.A. versus a more "normal" lifestyle, which I'm experiencing myself now anyway. But I laughed at this thing only once, and I wasn't in it for the drama.

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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"Road Hard" is a watchable, though fairly uninteresting comedy.

Few comedy movies are funny, and even fewer American comedians are. The movie and the protagonist don't break either mould, though Carolla is likable as the lead.

I didn't like this one as much as his movie "The Hammer", which was a lot more interesting. It's a movie about a down-on-his-luck comedian travelling around doing shows with varying degrees of failure. He used to be on a TV show called "The Bro Show" and his co-star, played by Jay Mohr, is now hosting a Letterman-style TV show that is the highest rated in the US.

I think the movie needed more moments of truth. There is one monologue Carolla gives about having to compete with Youtube stars as a middle aged comedian. The movie needed more bits like that; many of the aspects of Carolla's character, like him having an adopted Asian daughter, and his weird, wig wearing manager, seem too obviously fake and forced.

There is something particularly embittered about a comedian on skid row. Being forced to find humour in a dark situation, and being funny on stage when their life off it is anything but. "Road Hard" would have done better to embrace this, rather than avoid it.

I'd love to see this material handled by the likes of Todd Solondz.

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.

First I am surprised the movie had a budget of 1.5 million dollars without any hi-fi's.,.The story is good, the main character played well! For those who love nude scenes, they will be happy with sudden appearance of actress Aria London great naked boobs covering entire screen in the swimming pool!!! Hard to see :)

No wonder it is on i-flix! A movie about a comedian who makes all those boring, mediocre 'jokes' or one liners at stand up shows, has a rough personal life, says some ignorant things, and can't seem to figure out why an actual talent hunting agency won't hire him-how many of these do we need in Hollywood? Also, the characters in the film are so one dimensional in nature, it became cringe worthy at one point. This adam carolla guy, does his facial expressions ever change? Even if the script is bad, you can expect to see some good acting, which is not present in the film either. Took me 3 days to finish it because I felt asleep everytime I watched it.

The movie got one thing correct though-you don't need any unique talent to be a comedy show host or have a comedy movie out in Hollywood.

This film, a somewhat autobiographical somewhat meta tale of the challenges facing an aging Los Angeles-based comic, is a very amusing and occasionally even poignant movie.

Adam Carolla (who co-wrote & co-directed) is excellent in the lead and is surrounded by a very talented supporting cast of familiar comic faces (Larry Miller, David Allen Grier, and several others).

My favorite punchline somehow even involves Phil Spector, but you'll have to watch the film to hear the actual joke.

Some of the bits are strong enough that one still might hear them if one goes hear Adam perform standup today (which is something else that I would recommend....let's just say the password is 'Crocs')

Thumbs up!

Adam Carolla raised $1.5 million for this movie, spent a million, and it still looks like a low budget movie. The story is hackneyed and forced, the main character is extremely unlikable, the dialogue is stale and forced, and the nudity is gratuitous. This is a movie made for the fans who forked over movie to Carolla to make this sad, forgettable movie.

Everything is based on Carolla's own experiences or observations. He's clearly jealous of Jimmy Kimmel, once his closest friend who gave him his start as a headliner. Somehow Kimmel has considerable clout in Hollywood, and has always wanted to help his old friend, but Carolla is too stubborn and narcissistic to accept it or move with the times.

The best scene in the movie is with the Kimmel analog, played by Jay Mohr, mildly scolding Bruce (played by Carolla) to "do the work". Bruce rejects it by calling it being his "fluffer".

The entire movie is unpleasant and not funny, despite it being about a stand-up comedian. Carolla's talents are limited, and whining about how life is so hard for him in a 90 minute movie shows that limitation.