The Machinist

[Kieran76]

THE MACHINIST is the story of TREVOR REZNIK, a lathe-operator who is dying of insomnia. In a machine shop, occupational hazards are bad enough under normal circumstances; yet for Trevor the risks are compounded by fatigue. Trevor has lost the ability to sleep. This is no ordinary insomnia...


Anyone seen this? I saw it last night, really enjoyed it, it stars Christian Bale as Reznik. One of the most incredible things about the film is Bale's weightloss, he really does look close to death. It's one of those films that you can't really say too much about because of spoilers but if you liked Memento I think you will enjoy this.
It's directed by Brad Anderson and I thought I had seen his name somewhere before and it turned out he directed Session 9, one of the worst films I have seen in a few years, so it looks as if he has improved a great deal since then.

[Yoshimoto]

Yeah saw it a few weeks ago now. It's definitely one of those films that grows on you after you've actually watched it. I wish i could lose weight as easily as Christian Bale appeared to have.

[Kieran76]

He makes Tom Hanks look a right porker when he was in Philledelphia doesn't he?

[Bleeders]

If I recall, all Bale ate was a can of tuna and an apple a DAY for his role as Trevor Reznik.

[Geoff D]

The region 5 Russian DVD of this flick is out now - clicky

[Kieran76]

If I recall, all Bale ate was a can of tuna and an apple a DAY for his role as Trevor Reznik.

Thats like Gary Oldman in Sid and Nancy, he just ate steamed fish and raw veg iirc.

[Roost]

Yup it's a great film, the weight loss is incredible. He put it back on pretty quick for Batman by the looks as well!

[Stuart Smith]

I saw this a couple of weeks ago, and enjoyed it immensely. Rightly so, much has been made of Bale's incredible weight loss (the fact in the preceding Batman Begins trailer he's back looking exactly as he did in American Psycho just makes the whole thing all the more impressive), but in all respects it's a top notch performance and strong proof that Bale is a force to be reckoned with.

The story, and particularly the eventual explanation, packs a weighty punch and plays out with a nice pace. The noirish atmosphere is pretty accompolished, and the Hitchcock stylings (particularly the music) complement everything very well. My biggest complaint was probably that a couple of the plot strands and connections are perhaps a little too oblique, to the extent where I couldn't help but feel they just didn't work, but overall it's great stuff.

In particular, if you enjoyed Memento then you'll enjoy this, because while the storytelling hook is obviously different the narrative tricks are similar and the effect is roughly along the same lines.

[stroppa]

Christian Bale also took up smoking for this part, as it's believed that smoking speeds up one's metabolism, which would explain why some people get quite porky when they quit smoking.

[Bleeders]

Finally caught the Russian DVD of this over the weekend and really, really enjoyed it. Thought the plot, pacing of the story and performances from the supporting cast were good.

Bale's performance however, was astounding, not so much in the acting alone (which was very good), but for the incredible amount of weight loss he endured, it was actually quite sickening seeing EVERY bone. >_<

Interesting point I read the other day in Hotdog I think it was, Michael Ironside has a missing or has had a limp lopped off in most of his films.

[ThoseOfTheUnlight]

I watched this a few weeks ago - thought it was good but wanted to enjoy it so much more.

Bale was great, however I just felt that the film as a whole was missing a little something, maybe atmosphere?

[Hodge]

Only just got round to watching this but have to agree with the above. It was good, but thought It lagged abit in parts. The conclusion was pretty good though and I never guessed It. As for bale, I`ve never seen an actor with such devotion to his roles.

[funkydan]

Great film - nice dark feel to it. Also, anyone else notice how everything had a green tint to it, like in the Matrix?!

A limited number of the UK DVD release has a small pack of very cool Machinist Post-its in with the DVD - a nice little extra I thought

[jimmbob]

Yeah I noticed the tint to the movie. It disappears towards the end once the "twist" is revealed.
I thought the movie was fantastic, nice to see a film that was gritty, and arty, but not "too" arty as to be a total borefest with too many obscurities.

[SuperDanX]

Got this in hmv's 3 dvds for ?20. Id also like to reccomend this exellent film. Go get it!