The Machinist

[Winter Version]

I totally dig Christian Bale and I was in the mood for something a little dark so I rented the Machinist. I thought it was a great flick but, geeze, just looking at Bale's condition creeped the hell out of me. And the scene where Trevor and Nicholas are on "Route 666" - it was one of the most harrowing I've ever seen in a movie. So yeah, what do you guys think of it?

[Trystenn]

What exactly is it about?

[vertigo_phreeze]

here was the mini-review i put up on my site (http://diary.apnindustries.com/2005/07/dvd-machinist.html):

If you want to see something truly amazing, check out this movie. Christian Bale, star of American Psycho, Equilibrium, and most recently Batman: Begins, did this movie right before he did Batman. While the movie itself is very good, the "truly amazing" part is that Bale, who was already very fit and muscular, dropped over 60 pounds to play the role. Supposedly, his diet consisted of nothing more than one apple and a single can of tuna a day. Afterwards, he put it all back on, and then some, to play Batman. Now back to the movie...

Trevor (Bale) works as a lathe-operator in a machine shop, and suffers from a case of insomnia that is so bad he hasn't slept in a year. The fatigue that is brought on by Trevor's condition causes him to doubt his own sanity as events lead him to believe there may be a some sort of conspiracy or plot against him. The movie basically follows Trevor trying to unravel this mystery and figure out why these things are happening to him.

The atmosphere and cinematography are excellent, the director holds the pace pretty well and the plot does a good job of unfolding itself leading up to the twist ending. Bale is as good as he pretty much always is, maybe even better. Jennifer Jason Leigh, Aitana Sanchez-Gijon, John Sharian, and Michael Ironside all give very solid performances as well. While this movie may not be for everyone, I think if you liked American Psycho, Memento, Fight Club, or pretty much any Hitchcock movie, you're gonna like this. It may not be the "best" among these movies, but it certainly holds it's own, and immediately added it to my collection.

[Trystenn]

Hmmmm i think i shall rent it now.

[Winter Version]

Speakin of Hitchcock, which of his movies would you reccomend? I've only seen Psycho.

[MarZom]

I think your enjoyment of the movie will depend largely upon how many very similarly themed movies you've seen previously. If you consider yourself a bit of a David Lynch aficionado, then you're very likely going to find yourself disappointed by the familiarity of how the movie falls so easily into all the conventions (and at this stage can we almost cliches?) of the "Is this really happening?" psychologically introspective movies, right up to the "twist" ending...

However if none of that above paragraph made any sense whatsoever, boy are you in for a treat! Some scenes are truely wonderful, and while it may be seen as rather generic within the context of its equivilent movie peers, it's truely a wonderful genre(If we can call it that?) of movies you're delving into, and should make you want to run out and rent everything by David Lynch, and other simmilar movies like Jacob's Ladder and Donnie Darko.

Unfortunately Christian Bale's transformation was also numbed due to seeing it all before... I seriously kept going "what's Ethan Hawk doing in the movie?" Before remembering "oh yeah, Bale just made himself LOOK like he's an underweigth unhealthy drug fiend.... Bravo!" Also I found the score to be horribly annoying.

Anyway long story short, definately worth seeing regardless of whatever.

[Slappy san]

I totally dig Christian Bale and I was in the mood for something a little dark so I rented the Machinist. I thought it was a great flick but, geeze, just looking at Bale's condition creeped the hell out of me. And the scene where Trevor and Nicholas are on "Route 666" - it was one of the most harrowing I've ever seen in a movie. So yeah, what do you guys think of it?

I liked it quite a bit. It didnt really hit me until it wasa over and I thought about it though.



Bale is nuts.

[Sanagi]

Good movie. I was worried that I wouldn't like another movie from the point of view of the not-completely-sane(see Fight Club, Secret Window, etc.) and that it'd be a stale retread, but it was well-done. And Bale is the most amazing thing in the movie. He honestly looks like an anorexic in it.

I am getting tired of movies where all the color has that washed-out look to it, though.

[KenK]

Unfortunately Christian Bale's transformation was also numbed due to seeing it all before... I seriously kept going "what's Ethan Hawk doing in the movie?" Before remembering "oh yeah, Bale just made himself LOOK like he's an underweigth unhealthy drug fiend.... Bravo!"

I've seen other actors get skinny for roles, but this was ridiculous looking at how buff Bale usually is. To see him in American Psycho and then this, the man looks beyond ghastly. And to go and regain the weight and more to do Batman less than a year later was equally impressive. Although both are incredibly risky from a health standpoint and I don't think he's ever going to do anything this extreme for a role every again.

Also I found the score to be horribly annoying.

Oh, I LOVED the scare. The eerieness and slightly cooky vibe to it was nice. It complimented the film very well in my opinion.

But yeah, this was a great movie, to me anyway. I suppose it's familiar for fans of the genre, but I thought it was still very moving and dizzying in the way Trevor sees the world and learning just how that vision was shaped. I thought it was interesting to see that before he stopped sleeping and eating

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He was pretty much that all-american type guy, the guy who looked like he was a linebacker in high school, and he's got the cherry-red hot rod, and a bit of a prick. He's still a decent guy, that is until you-know-what happens, and he's so haunted by it that he does what he does to himself until his mind starts fucking with him.

[cactusmaac]

It wasn't a bad movie and technically very well done.

Bale's performance was top-notch.

However the movie just didn't hold my attention very well, mostly because the other characters in the movie seemed quite plot-device like and the plot itself is rather unengagin.

I kept looking at my watch too frequently.

Personally I much preferred the Nolan\Pacino Insomnia flick which succeeded where this failed.

[ElectraAlan]

I didn't enjoy it. The material didn't seem worth Bale's risking his life.

I was about a quarter of the way through the movie, saying to myself "When is Bale going to show up?" when I realized I was looking at him.

[ElectraAlan]

Speakin of Hitchcock, which of his movies would you reccomend? I've only seen Psycho.

"Rear Window" is a true classic.

I've never liked a lot of Hitchcock's movies, not even ones that others love, like "North by Northwest" or "Vertigo." But I loved "The Lady Vanishes" and "The 39 Steps," more as clever, witty and very British movies than as thrillers.

[Ontir]

I attended a screening of this film which had a Q&A with the writer and director afterward. This provided some interesting tidbits about the film:

It was shot in the Catalan region of Spain, because Spain was the only country, from which the production could get financing. Amazingly, it looks a great deal like moderninst, west Los Angeles.

The script describes Bale's character as emaciated, but the director only expected Bale to drop 10 pounds, or so, with the rest to be done via movie magic. When Bale stepped off the plane, the director's jaw hit the tarmac. Bale was so thin, that he scared the director. During the shoot, Mrs. Bale confided to the director, that sometimes, at night, she'd put her hand on his chest, just to make sure it was still moving.

For his part, Bale said he achieved the look by simply stopping eating. He also said that after the first week (I think it was) the hunger goes away. Pretty scary!

[smartalek]

Bale had a certain advantage, in that in the heat of Spain, he was cool because he had no body fat. I think that was the only positive. Heh.