The Machinist
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Movie Reviews of The Machinist
Movie Review: "A little guilt goes a long way"
Summary: 5 Stars
Christian Bale (Batman Begins) shines in this small underrated gem about a factory worker named Trevor Reznik who is suffering from severe paranoia and a serious case of insomnia and weight loss.
He hasn't slept in a year, and his health is not great- he's losing weight at an alarming rate. And worst of all, he encounters things and people, creepy as they may be especially his co-worker Ivan, that seemingly exist only in his head (or do they?).
The only people he can turn to for a little bit of comfort are Stevie, his next door prostitute neighbor and occasional lover, and Marie, a waitress at an airport snack bar.
You will feel hypnotized and entrapped as you follow Trevor in his demonic nightmare trying to figure out what all the sticky notes are about, who all these people are that he is encountering, and whether or not they are plotting against him and why. I will stop right here because the movie holds many secrets and surprises along the way.
What keeps the movie highly interesting is Bale's incredible performance -he actually shed 63 pounds to play the role, something that will make such sophisticated charactor actors as Robert De Niro jealous!
Overall, The Machinist is an extraordinary film that will keep your eyes glued to the screen, and keep you on the edge of your seat.
A top notch psychological thriller!
Recommended
A-
Movie Review: The Definition of Mental Anguish (4 1/2 Stars)
Summary: 5 Stars
The Machinist was everything I expected it to be, a taut psychological thriller. Christian Bale is almost unrecognizable in the lead role of Trevor Reznik, a lonely machinist. Bale supposedly lost over 60 pounds for this role and believe me that's on the conservative side. The sheer horror of Bale's body alone is creepy enough to sustain the suspense in this movie. I have never seen an actor take his body to the absolute extreme like Bale does in this film. The story centers around Reznik's increasingly slippery grip on reality. Trevor Reznik has not slept for over a year and the effects on his physical and mental state are obvious. He can't eat and drinks only black coffee. Then, one day he accidently maim's a fellow worker and his tenuous grip on reality slides away. There are some nagging questions presented by director Brad Anderson throughout The Machinist. Why can't Trevor sleep? Who is leaving those notes on his refrigerator? Who is Ivan and why is he following Trevor? What is in Trevor's freezer? The Machinist creeps along at an almost glacial pace but it wraps up very neatly in the end. At it's core The Machinist comes down to the struggle for a man's soul. It will inevitably draw comparisons to David Fincher's Fight Club but without the social commentary. Bale's performace carries the film and will go down as one of the most haunting performances of the past decade. Highly Recommended to fans of the horror or suspense genres.Movie Review: "You lost it, man"
Summary: 5 Stars
I recently was looking up films that Christian Bale starred in when I bumped into this gem. I never heard anything about this film but after watching it I say it deserves the praise that it gets on here and then some.
Trevor Reznik is a factory worker whose life goes completely awry after he meets a mysterious stranger named Ivan(John Sharian) that claims to work in the same factory. Things get worse for Trevor as one his co-workers loses an arm(Miller played by Micheal Ironside) and he is questioned about the incident. Trevor believes he is going insane and constantly visits a hooker and a airport restaurant waitress in attempts to regain his sanity. He hasn't been sleeping well and things get more complicated for him once Ivan is introduced into his life.
Christian Bale gives one hell of a performance as the tortured soul Trevor Reznik. Jennifer Jason Leigh as well as Michael Ironside turn in some good performances. Christian Bale looks ghastly and sickly but his point of shedding 63 pounds to play this role was well made. I also like the score for this movie. Its no overbearing and grating: Its haunting and eerie and complements the overall tone to this intriguing and well-written mystery. So if you are in the mood for a great psychological thriller you couldn't go wrong with The Machinist.
Movie Review: Thinner...
Summary: 5 Stars
Christian Bale (American Psycho, Equilibrium, Batman Begins, The Dark Knight) is Trevor Reznik, a man who hasn't slept in a year. He is an incredibly gaunt figure, drifting through an increasingly hostile world of nightmare. We go along w/ Trevor as he goes to work, visits his prostitute friend, Stevie (Jennifer Jason Leigh from The Hitcher and Single White Female) hangs out at the diner w/ waitress, Marie (Aitana sanchez-Gijon), and generally plods through life. Bale captures the insomniac's desperate need for sleep perfectly. His infamous weight-loss only adds to the realism of his plight. He looks like a deranged scarecrow! Remember Pacino's character in INSOMNIA? Well, he was extremely fit and chipper compared to Reznik! I kept thinking that he should just eat a big sandwich and go to bed! I loved the bleak, CARNIVAL OF SOULS / JACOB'S LADDER atmospherics and faded look of THE MACHINIST. My favorite scenes are in the funhouse and the machine shop. If you have a taste for the bizarre, the mysterious, or the redemptive, then give THE MACHINIST a shot... P.S.- Horror / sci-fi icon Michael Ironside (Scanners, Visiting Hours, Total Recall, Starship Troopers, etc.) is very good in his role as one of Reznik's fellow machinists named Miller...Movie Review: Intelligent Cinema
Summary: 5 Stars
Christian Bale is Trevor Reznik. His performance as a deathly thin insomniac machinist is so unerring perfect it's disturbing. He is the character in every way. By now it's well known he dropped down to an unhealthy 117 lbs for the role (though the movie says he weighs 119, he admitted afterward that he actually weighed less). Throughout the film Trevor is tormented by Ivan, a man no one else can see. Bizarre, horrific things are happening all around Trevor and he believes Ivan is responsible for it.
If you liked Se7en and Fight Club, you'll probably like The Machinist. It's a rather simpler story, but the style is very similar, even in terms of cinematograpy (it's directed by Brad Anderson, not David Fincher), though the execution may be even better. Perhaps because the movie is smaller in scope than either aforementioned films, the story is more coherent and when it's over, more conclusive and satisfying (partly because Fight Club did not use the book's original ending). Even more so than Fight Club, the ending is surprising, though you'll wonder why you didn't see it right in front of you the entire time. The Machinist is an intelligent, clever take on what could have been a predictable, cliche mess. Highly recommended.