The Machinist

"Who am I?”

The question is one of the most famous questions that has been asked throughout film history, ironic really that the man asking the question, “Who am I?” in this film will appear on cinema screens this summer as Batman in Christopher Nolan’s Batman Begins.

In this film, however, Christian Bale, the man famous for roles such as American Psycho’s Patrick Bateman plays Trevor Reznik, a factory worker who is tormented by the fact that he is literally wasting away from insomnia.

Visually this film is dark; it’s lit so that Reznik is frequently shown either in the shadows or in very dark lights. This works to great effect as is helps to illustrate the “walking dead” quality that Reznik has to him.

Where the film does have flaws, it’s strengths lie in it’s performances, particularly from Christian Bale as Reznik, Jennifer Jason Leigh as Stevie, and Michael Ironside as Reznik’s co- worker Miller.

In other reviews you’ll read or hear about Christian Bale’s dramatic weight loss, it’s true that the weight loss is very dramatic, (He lost about 60 pounds from his 6 foot 2 frame, dropping to about 9 and a half stone) but I can fully understand why Bale did it, as a method actor, he wouldn’t have been able to understand Reznik’s suffering without loosing the weight, and it really adds an extra dimension to the character that I don’t think would have existed if Bale was made to look as frail as Reznik via clever make up or CGI.

The story was good, there were some flaws I felt, Mainly that director Brad Anderson attempted to build up to having a twist occur at the end of the film that could be seen to be as powerful as the twists in films such as Fight Club and Memento. However, I found the ending to be rather obvious after about halfway through the film.

This doesn’t mean that the film isn’t good though. Believe me, it’s very good.

I liked this film quite a lot and think that it’s highly recommendable, but not for everyone. Fans of films such as Fight Club and Memento will like this. Fans of Christian Bale will like this. Film fans, who are not keen on Fight Club, Memento, or Christian Bale, probably won’t like this.

In conclusion, The Machinist is not the greatest film I’ve seen this year, it’s not the greatest thriller of all time. But it’s very good, probably one of the best thrillers of the year.