Bale is superb as Trevor, able to not only convey the wasted person within, but to avoid making his physical appearance the only thing we care about or notice.
Comment
10/18/08
The Machinist (2004)
75
%
Tomatometer
How does the Tomatometer work 
Reviews Counted:131
Fresh:98
Rotten:33
Average Rating:6.6/10
Consensus: A suspenseful low-budget thriller where Christian Bale completely inhabits his role.
Synopsis: Christian Bale delivers one of cinema's most sacrificial performances in Brad Anderson's mesmerizing thriller. Written by Scott Kosar (2003's THE TEXAS CHAINSAW MASSACRE), THE MACHINIST takes place... [More]
Starring: Christian Bale, Jennifer Jason Leigh, Aitana Sanchez-Gijon, Michael Ironside
Director: Brad Anderson
Reviews for The Machinist
Top CriticSome people will pick up the clues early in The Machinist and some won't. I got some, not all, but I remained unengaged throughout, largely because of the film's deliberateness, which feels like lack of passion.
06/10/05
Top CriticClick to read the article
06/08/05
Top CriticWith time as a buffer, it's now easier to see The Machinist for what it is: a labyrinthine leap down the rabbit hole into a nightmarish wonderland.
05/18/09
It's fulfilling to watch a psychological thriller that demands the audience watch, pay attention, follow along, and decipher for themselves without falling in to the usual Hollywood conventions.
04/29/09
Here, shorn of every ounce of body fat, Bale is laid open like an autopsy specimen, and he easily gives his best performance.
02/27/09
Um angustiante pesadelo que, trazendo Bale numa performance corajosa e repleta de auto-sacrifício, funciona como um estudo poético sobre os extremos da culpa.
08/15/08
full review in Greek
10/03/06
The Machinist, in terms of its gimmicky, save-the-conceit structure, is a bit like the self-consciously clever Memento but not even half as fun.
08/27/06
It's a somber, sometimes slow-slithering dark piece that's heavier on style than substance, but it all works.
06/12/06
A few scenes into the gloom and you’ll have a good idea what is generally up, if not the specifics, making the journey toward the eventual, inevitable twist fairly one-dimensional.
04/01/06
Top CriticOne can’t deny the dubious appeal of the spectacle of the skin-and-bone Bale, quite possibly endangering his health for the sake of his art.
02/09/06
An absorbing and eerie study of paranoia and psychological torment.
12/29/05
Kosar has ... constructed an exercise in existentialism that is so literal it’s a true feat that he was able to reign it all back in for the somewhat tidy ending of this film.
12/06/05
It's like a film the Coen Brothers would have made, back when they still made good movies.
08/22/05
replacing phrase "going De Niro" with the phrase "going Bale" in many vocabularies
07/12/05
Anderson's use of lighting, editing, sound design, and score hit just the right nerve endings, creating a film that keeps turning over in your mental gears for days afterward.
06/20/05
A chance for Bale to show off his new lean look for what the filmmaker mistakenly thinks is art.
06/07/05
A gimmick with no real payoff.
05/04/05
Christian Bale gives his best by giving less in this nightmare tale of a machinist who is one tool short of the full set.
03/26/05
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