Review of The Machinist (2004) by Filipeneto — 17 Jun 2019

A good movie, with a great interpretation of Christian Bale.

This movie was very enjoyable to watch. It's a thriller based on Trevor's paranoia, a factory worker who begins to believe that a newcomer to the service is trying to plot him. Of course, the fact that he has not slept for a year (a form of chronic insomnia that, for the simple fact that the character has not gone to the doctor, is hard to believe) probably has something to do with these obsessive thoughts. At her side, privileged spectator of her drama, the prostitute Stevie, who is at the same time friend, advisor, confidante and romantic interest of that machinist. He has no friends, has virtually no one, and will slip to the brink of madness, gradually.

The script is both the strong point and the weak point of the film. In fact, the story itself is good, interesting and holds the public to the end ... but let's face it, it has little originality. He remembers a lot of other films, particularly "Memento" or "Fight Club" (two older films where Scott Kosar and Brad Anderson (the director) were probably to drink some inspiration. I remember a mixture of these two films that I mentioned, although this does not remove any merit or quality from him, of course. It's worth seeing this movie just to see how this actor indulges in his character.

From the technical point of view, I found it very interesting to use blotted colors, without heat, to pass through the film the coldness and absence of human warmth felt throughout history. The main character, a man uprooted and on the verge of madness, experiments and is the center of all this coldness. The plays of light and shadow, the soundtrack, all contribute to make the film and dark, somber.