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Movies / Upcoming / The Machinist
The Machinist

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The Machinist (2004)

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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.

Runtime: 1 hr 43 mins

Genre: Dramas

US Box Office: $939,471

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... 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 in a bleak and nondescript American city, where Trevor Reznick (Bale) is quite literally withering away to nothing. During the day Trevor works in a colorless industrial factory, while at night he seeks refuge in the bed of a tender prostitute, Stevie (Jennifer Jason Leigh). For reasons unknown even to Trevor, he hasn't been able to sleep for an entire year. In the process, he has shed over sixty pounds, making him look like a walking skeleton. After an accident at the factory costs Trevor his job, he finds himself tracking a mysterious figure that may or may not, in fact, provide some answers to his confusion. Meanwhile, he begins to connect with a pretty airport waitress, Marie (Aitana Sanchez-Gijon), who shows Trevor some much-needed sympathy. By the time the film builds to its revelatory conclusion, it becomes quite clear just what has been tormenting Trevor all along. Anderson and Kosar's vision is brought to spectacular life by cinematographer Xavi Gimenez and composer Roque Banos, whose haunting atmospherics recall the best work of Alfred Hitchcock. And then, of course, there is Bale, whose performance is as terrifying, brave, and devastating as the screen has ever seen. [More]

Starring: Christian Bale, Jennifer Jason Leigh, Aitana Sanchez-Gijon, Michael Ironside

Starring: Christian Bale, Jennifer Jason Leigh, Aitana Sanchez-Gijon, Michael Ironside, John Sharian

Director: Brad Anderson

Director: Brad Anderson
Screenwriter: Scott Kosar
Producer: Julio Fernandez
Composer: Roque Banos
Studio: Paramount Classics

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Reviews for The Machinist

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1 - 20 (sorted by comments; Australian critics are listed first)
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N/R

Click to read the article

Full Review Source: In Film Australia | comment Comment
06/08/05
Luke Buckmaster
Luke Buckmaster
In Film Australia
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

Some 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.

Full Review Source: Sydney Morning Herald | comment Comment
06/10/05
Paul Byrnes
Paul Byrnes
Sydney Morning Herald
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

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.

Full Review Source: Urban Cinefile | comment Comment
10/18/08
Urban Cinefile Critics
Urban Cinefile Critics
Urban Cinefile
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

Though the film starts slowly, it unfolds irresistibly, thanks mainly to Bale's full-bodied, soulful performance.

Full Review Source: E! Online | comment Comment
10/22/04
E! Online
N/R

Click to read the article

Full Review Source: Boston Phoenix | comment Comment
10/30/04
Boston Phoenix

A moody psychological thriller with a stunning performance by Christian Bale at its core.

Full Review Source: Chicago Tribune | comment Comment
11/18/04
Achy Obejas
Achy Obejas
Chicago Tribune

It's like a film the Coen Brothers would have made, back when they still made good movies.

Full Review Source: Juicy Cerebellum | comment Comment
08/22/05
Alex Sandell
Alex Sandell
Juicy Cerebellum

Christian Bale delivers one of the most astounding performances of the year in this exceptionally written psychological thriller. **

Full Review Source: Sympatico.ca | comment Comment
11/15/04
Angela Baldassarre
Angela Baldassarre
Sympatico.ca

Bale's brilliance in the role lies not only in the fact that he starved himself for months but that he fully inhabits this wasted, paranoid man.

Full Review Source: Boxoffice Magazine | comment Comment
10/21/04
Annlee Ellingson
Annlee Ellingson
Boxoffice Magazine

Christian Bale gives his best by giving less in this nightmare tale of a machinist who is one tool short of the full set.

Full Review Source: Movie Gazette | comment Comment
03/26/05
Anton Bitel
Anton Bitel
Movie Gazette

Bale's performance has the emotional weight to substantiate this body-art spectacle, ranging from prickly self-righteousness through panicked self-doubt to morbid self-pity...

Full Review Source: Sight and Sound | comment Comment
03/01/05
Ben Walters
Ben Walters
Sight and Sound

Though Bale deserves all the credit that can be heaped at his feet ... there is far more to this sinister psychological thriller than just exhibiting Bale's emaciated form.

Full Review Source: Arizona Republic | comment Comment
12/02/04
Bill Muller
Bill Muller
Arizona Republic

Anderson does keep a fairly predictable, deeply depressing plot line engrossing for most of the way.

Full Review Source: Los Angeles Daily News | comment Comment
10/22/04
Bob Strauss
Bob Strauss
Los Angeles Daily News

Imagine if the twist in The Sixth Sense had turned out to be something as depressingly ordinary as, say, Bruce Willis’ character never having been a licensed psychologist.

Full Review Source: FilmStew.com | comment Comment
10/23/04
Brett Buckalew
Brett Buckalew
FilmStew.com

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.

Full Review Source: eFilmCritic.com | comment Comment
06/20/05
Brian Mckay
Brian Mckay
eFilmCritic.com

Even in a time when weight gains and losses in the service of a role have become commonplace, Bale has accomplished an astonishing change.

Full Review Source: AboutFilm.com | comment Comment
10/15/04
Carlo Cavagna
Carlo Cavagna
AboutFilm.com

Elegant and shatteringly creepy.

Full Review Source: Philadelphia Inquirer | comment Comment
10/28/04
Carrie Rickey
Carrie Rickey
Philadelphia Inquirer

Interesting premise, terrific performance, shocking transformation - the image of Christian Bale's skeletal appearance will stay with you long after you leave the theatre.

Full Review Source: TheMovieChicks.com | comment Comment
11/19/04
Cherryl Dawson and Leigh Ann Palone
Cherryl Dawson and Leigh Ann Palone
TheMovieChicks.com

The secret to the appeal of The Machinist is director Brad Anderson's ability to sustain an off-balanced, discombobulated mood throughout the film.

Full Review Source: St. Paul Pioneer Press | comment Comment
11/23/04
Chris Hewitt (St. Paul)
Chris Hewitt (St. Paul)
St. Paul Pioneer Press

An absorbing and eerie study of paranoia and psychological torment.

Full Review Source: Fantastica Daily | comment Comment
12/29/05
Chuck O'Leary
Chuck O'Leary
Fantastica Daily
 
 
1 - 20 (sorted by comments; Australian critics are listed first)
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