Review of The Machinist (2004) by Melvin W — 09 Feb 2012

Trevor Reznik: Right now I wanna sleep. I just want to sleep.

âHow Do You Wake Up From A Nightmare If Youâ(TM)re Not Asleep?â?

The Machinist is a brilliant psychological thriller. It is extremely engrossing and watching Christian Bale will make you feel tired. The way he transformed himself into this 120 pound character that has not slept in a year is insane. He looks like a holocaust victim. Every bone in his body pops out. It is pretty crazy to think about him in this role in 2004 and then a year later in 2005 he was the buff Bruce Wayne/Batman for Batman Begins. It just proves that he will put everything into his roles.

But the film is much more than just a skinny Christian Bale. The plot is absorbing. We meet Trevor Reznik, a factory machinist who hasnâ(TM)t slept in a year. He goes about a routine of work, hooker, and airport diner. He starts seeing messages in his apartment and he also sees a man named Ivan that no one else does. Everyone believes him to be crazy and it is pretty obvious why. He looks like a crack head and when he starts talking crazy, it is hard not to believe that he is nuts.

Brad Anderson does an amazing job directing The Machinist. I loved the cinematography, which shows the story in a grayish sort of filter. It makes us look at the events through Trevorâ(TM)s sleepless eyes. The story progresses at a perfect pace, moving slowly when it needs to, but still cranking up the tension as it goes.

As a fan of the psychological thriller genre, this film proves to be one of the more unique ones I have seen. That isnâ(TM)t to say that it is the best, but it is incredibly interesting and very good in its own right. The originality of the story with the amazing performance by Christian Bale paired with a good supporting role by Jennifer Jason Leigh makes for an intriguing watch.