Review of The Machinist (2004) by David E — 24 Apr 2014

The thing that drew me (and probably most other people) to this film, was Christian Bale's insane preparation for his role in the film as an insomniac; he basically starved himself to give his character the look that was wanted.

So, for him to be willing to do that for this film, it must be pretty special right? Well no, not really, it's actually quite average. The cinematography is well done and the story is quite intelligent, but all in all it's a fairly standard psychological thriller, made much more intriguing by Bale's extreme role prep.

If this was a review of Bale alone, it would get a much higher rating. But it's not, it's a film review, and as a film The Machinist is a bit underwhelming.