The Machinist

Christian Bale lost around 60 pounds just to earn the leading role in this film.  Then, he had to regain all that just to play Batman in Batman Begins.  Whether you like his acting or not, you have to give the man some props.  He's very committed to the role.  Here, he teams up with Brad Anderson, a director I like to call a mixed bag.  Session 9 had one of the scariest scenes in film history, and it was a tense film with a nice narrative.  However, the ultimate payoff was weak.  Vanishing on 7th Street had an interesting concept, but suffered from Hayden Christenson and too many unanswered questions.  The Call, that Halle Berry film, was just pure garbage.  So Brad technically isn't a great director.  However, those films could only dream of being as good as the Machinist, which plays out in similar style to Session 9, but has a better payoff.

The Machinist stars Christian Bale as Trevor Reznik, a factory worker.  Trevor has recently suffered from insomnia, and he also had a huge weight loss.  Apparently, as he said in the film, he hasn't slept in nearly a year.  He forgets his reasons as to why he never slept, and it comes back to haunt him in the form of a sticky note.  There's also a new employee at work.  Meanwhile he has sex with his hooker, and they want to start a real relationship.  However, he befriends a woman he speaks with at a cafe, whom he tips a great amount of money.  It's all interwoven and it gets hectic pretty quick.  It's a nice premise and the mystery keeps you guessing.  Also, unlike Session 9, you won't be able to guess the entire twist, which is great for us detectives.

Just to show how committed Bale was to the role.

Christian Bale plays Patrick Bateman, again, except he doesn't go on ravenous murders and he isn't a "happy camper".  Reznik is a depressed man, just moving 2 miles an hour.  The film is very somber, but it's very tense.  It's another slow burning film, never revealing what Trevor did until the end.  I can't say that I totally expected the twist to play out like the way it did.  From the beginning and even the box art, it tells you right away that Trevor is a _ _ _ _ ER.  Guess what other letters fit in there.  The style of shot is also very bleak, dark, and muddled at times.  It creates this sense of danger looming by, ready to strike you when you least expect it.  I found some shots to be a little disturbing at times.  Oh, and there is tits, so don't watch this with your mom, unless you're Diego Tutweiller.

I can't say this film was all the way perfect, though.  Bale is, again, the driving force as to watch this film.  With that said, his other cast members are completely forgettable.  At a time, it seems as if everyone was kind of phoning in their performances.  Then, I realized that it was Jennifer Jason Leigh who played Patrick's-I mean-Trevor's booty call.  If you don't know who that is, she's a terrible actress, who somehow by the grace of Eywa "made" it in Hollywood.  She is the female Armie Hammer and it is really showing how pitiful she is here.  Also, there are a couple of times where I'm not sure whether I was supposed to laugh or not.  Namely, the scene when Trevor's running away from the police really made me crack a smile.  It's not that the scene was silly, but it's just watching a 100 pound Bale running with his arms flailing really makes it hard to take seriously.  Also, while the twist is unexpected, at times, it seems a little overreaching.  Not like that's a bad thing, considering how loopy Bateman-I mean Reznik is.  And there's the little fact, as I've been hinting- that Bale was simply playing Patrick Bateman, minus the body and joyfulness and murderous tendencies. Reznik does display some emotion, which is more than Bateman did, but there's a thin line separating the characters.

While my problems seem to over weigh  the positives, I still enjoyed this film.  It had enough atmosphere to keep you intrigued while the plot was nicely told.  While it may not be a savior to Brad Anderson's mediocre career, it does give Bale some more props.  He can play a character that's out of this world pretty well.  Reznik, just like Bateman, is a man who has no grip on reality anymore.  Bale may not be the greatest actor in the world.  But you have to admire his determination in his films.  He gained like what? 20 pounds for American Hustle, and lost it all!?  This guy is a beast.  Also, Reznik reminds me of another Bale character.  The guy from the Fighter, in which Bale lost a lot of weight, again.  He's a man committed to his role and I have the utmost respect.

6.5/10