The Machinist

Title: The Machinist
Director: Brad Anderson
Cast: Christian Bale, Jennifer Jason Leigh, Michael Ironside
Year: 2004
MPAA: Rated R for violence and disturbing images, sexuality and language
Date of Review: August 1, 2005

He looks vaguely familiar. A certain look in his eyes tells you you've seen him before in some movie you can't remember the title of. His voice brings back memories of a psychotic New York lawyer in the 1980s, but still, you can't place a name. He is so frail, both emotionally and physically, it seems as if any moment now he will just fade away into nothingness. Then you remember, and with a sudden jolt of energy you jump out of your seat, point at the skeletal figure on the screen and yell "Hey! That's Batman!". And you're right, sort of. Yes, it is Christian Bale, but in this movie he couldn't be much different from the crime-fighting Dark Knight of Gotham. The character's name is Trevor Reznik, and the movie is "The Machinist".

The film, directed by Brad Anderson who is fairly well known in the horror crowds as the director of 2001's masterful psychological horror film "Session 9", tells the story of Trevor Reznik, a young man working for "National Machine", a steel mill of sorts with a series of colourful employess. Trevor holds many deep secrets, some of which he is not even himself aware of. One is that he has not slept in a year, and his extreme fatigue has left him paranoid and delusional. When Reznik causes an accident at work that costs a man his arm, he begins to believe that the workers are plotting some sort of conspiracy against him. What results is one of the most shocking and memorable journeys of self discovery you will ever experience.

"The Machinist" stars Christian Bale in the lead role of Trevor Reznik, as well as Michael Ironside as Miller, the man who loses his arm, and Jennifer Jason Leigh as Stevie, an affectionate prostitute whom Trevor confides in. Christian Bale steals the whole movie, but it's pretty hard not to when an actor goes to the lengths he did to bring the character to the screen. Before filming, Bale weighed 180 pounds, which is fairly average for his height of 6'2". In less than a year he went down to 115 pounds, filmed the movie, then went up to 220 pounds to film "Batman Begins". As he is told numerous times throughout the course of the film, if he were any thinner he wouldn't exist. However, it is not just his astounding physical presence (or lack thereof) that makes Bale's performance so powerful, it is the emotional and psychological frailty and vulnerability he can convey with just a few words.

Brad Anderson has begun to develop quite a formidable following, with many critics and fans alike saying he is Hitchcock for the new millennium. In "Session 9", he took one of the creepiest places ever caught on film, and managed to make it just as much a character in the story as any of the flesh-and-blood actors inhabiting the locale. With "The Machinist", he has created a much more human story that is less terrifying than "Session 9", but equally unnerving and sporting his signature surrealist look.

While the subject matter may be a little much for some, "The Machinist" is easily one of the more powerful films of recent years. Strong performances all around combine with the superb visuals and Brad Anderson's uncanny talent for telling an emotionally affecting story, and make one of the best films of 2004.

10/10