The Machinist (2004): C

Christian Bale dropped a shockingly immense amount of weight for Brad Anderson’s The Machinist, but like the film itself, Bale’s drastic pound-shedding is a gimmick with no real payoff. Sure, Bale – as Trevor Reznik, an industrial machine operator whose sanity begins to unravel due to a year-long bout of sleeplessness – is a frightening sight, his sallow face marked with bruises and his ribcage and collarbone clearly visible under his pasty skin. Yet Scott Kosar’s script fails to conceal its central surprise from the get-go – the film is so predictable that I immediately guessed the answer to the hangman game (written on a post-it) that mysteriously appears on Trevor’s fridge, and anyone who’s seen Fight Club, Memento or any number of similar movies will immediately be hip to the big mystery. As in the superior Session 9, Anderson creates a mood of disquieting dread, and it’s always nice to see the great Michael Ironside getting some work (though he’s tragically underused as a co-worker Trevor accidentally injures in a work mishap). But aside from Bale’s harrowing portrait of insomnia-induced madness, The Machinist is downright defective.

Comments

[Matthew Tanaka]

I don't know if you were actually watching the movie, but the "big mystery" isn't what you think it is. It's about the guilt and what happened, not about who Ivan is. And congrats on guessing the post-it note, but thats not really important or even a spoiler as they show it in the trailer. Just try to pay more attention to actual meaning of the movie before you bad mouth it.

p.s. Session 9 IS superior. :)

[Jessica]

I thought the movie was great...so put that in ur pipe and smoke it biotchhh...j/k, j/k

[Laura]

I loved this movie!! It's one of my favorites. The entire movie deals with the guilt felt by the main character. It takes until the very end to understand what the meaning of everything is. I don't want to spoil anything for those who haven't seen it, but just stick with it to the end.

[aaron neckerman]

maybe im too dumb but there were a lot of details that cant match the whole picture and noone is xplaining em...so he felt guilty ok...
what was the thing with the stick-on notes ?
why he was seeing his self ?
why he didnt sleep?
what about the fish heads?
maybe i need to watch 10-20 times more...dun know...
~neckerman

[Matt]

This was my intake on the movie.

----SPOILER WARNING!!!----

The guy he meets in the truck was a representation of his guilt following him around.

The post it notes is his guilt (himself) trying to let him know he's a killer. Course he's in denial so he doesn't click and assumes other things...Mother, Miller etc. Also he was maybe prone to blaming himself for things such as his mother's death and Miller losing his arm, so these would also be like a self-reminder from his guilt adding to his lack of sleep.

The fish I'm not sure about, maybe with him placing the pictue of his 'guilt' in the picture, he attempts to place the guilt on someone else. But when he finds the fish in the freezer in slaps him in the face it was actually him.
----END OF SPOILER!!!----

The film actually tells you the meaning during it.

"A little guilt goes a long way."

Enough said

If you haven't seen the movie, I recommend it.

Enjoy!

[Alex Leibowitz]

It seems dumb -- all that because of a bad conscience? I don't want to sit through 2 hours of emaciation for a morality play ending.

[kartik]

matt u r awesome....glad u explained d meaning so beautifully

[Tom S]

Sounds like one of Bale's first movies that didn't turn out too great. Not sure I could sit through the whole thing...