Movie Information
Overall Rank: 1000
Average Rating: 2.9/4
# of Ratings: 274
Theatrical Release Date: 10/22/2004
Language: English
Genre: Drama, Mystery
MPAA Rating: R
Director: Brad Anderson
Actors: Christian Bale, Jennifer Jason Leigh, Aitana Sánchez-Gijón, Michael Ironside, John Sharian, Larry Gilliard Jr.
Plot: A loaner who works first shift at a machine shop is trying to get a grip on what is happening to him. Is everyone after him or is it all in his head?
Quick Movie Reviews
Rating of
3.5/4
mitchellyoung - wrote on 05/25/2012
Despite the ending seeming a little contrived (you'll see,) Christian Bale gives a magnetic and involving performance as an obsessive and grief-stricken young man. The film is a constantly shifting object, never what it seems, and captivates the interest from start to finish.
Rating of
3/4
Spielbergian - wrote on 09/03/2010
A creepy, twisting tale with a great performance by Christian Bale that was pretty damn good.
Full Movie Reviews
Rating of
3/4
The Machinist review
Daniel Corleone - wrote on 11/02/2012
Seeing Bale here proves that he is one of the underrated artists that can convey emotion while being passionate in his craft. Trevor Reznik (Christian Bale) is a machinist who has insomnia and is bothered by Ivan, a stout individual while things go wrong along the way. He seeks comfort from call girl Stevie (Jennifer Jason Leigh) and a waitress Maria (Aitana Sánchez-Gijón). An underrated psychological thriller that keeps you glued because of the plot while Bale convinces you of his stellar performance. Jennifer Jason Leigh is always dependable. It shows how serious an actor Bale can be. Score was perfect for its genre and direction was detailed and suspenseful enough to keep it interesting. The pace and cinematography just sufficient to keep things interesting. The Machinist is …
Rating of
2/4
"The Machinist" by Yojimbo
Yojimbo - wrote on 06/24/2012
I'd heard a lot about this film, particularly involving Christian Bale's dramatic weight loss and his physical transformation is remarkable. He plays an insomniac haunted by hallucinations and a constant feeling of deja vu until he begins to discover notes left for him by an unknown figure, leading him to fear for his sanity. These kind of psycho dramas tend only to work if done with subtlety; the best examples, Fight Club, Memento and The Sixth Sense are exercises in directorial expertise, the audience fed with misdirections and seeds of potential clues which in each case leads to a powerful climactic revelation. During this film however, I felt like I was having to clamber through a minefield of heavy-handed symbolism and hulking sign posts pointing to a conclusion that had been …
Rating of
4/4
Incredible descent into madness
TheWolf - wrote on 10/10/2007
Let me get this out of the way first, the only mention I plan to make here about the insane weight loss of Christian Bale for this role is that he had to put it all back on and then add a lot of muscle to play Batman a year later.
The story is considered to be slow for most people. Personally I didn't mind the pacing of how it works. Honestly the pacing I feel puts the viewer into the tormented frame of mind that Trevor is going through. Everytime he gets even close to sleeping something always manages to wake him up. The lighting and the coloring of everything around him is an old and dreary feel, there are no bright colors, and nothing that can extract hope or happiness for the existence of the character. This is an amazing technique. By keeping the colors dark and even the tones …
Related Movie Lists
Recent Movie Talk Posts
No posts have been made on this movie yet. Be the first to start talking about The Machinist!
