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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 rotten rating; Australian critics are listed first)
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N/R

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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
N/R

Click to read the article

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

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Full Review Source: Zap2it.com | comment Comment
12/19/04
Hanh Nguyen
Hanh Nguyen
Zap2it.com
N/R

Click to read the article

Full Review Source: Entertainment Insiders | comment Comment
10/19/04
Scott A. Mantz
Scott A. Mantz
Entertainment Insiders

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

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 story, which should strip down scarily like Reznik, starts to bulge and wander pretentiously.

Full Review Source: San Diego Union-Tribune | comment Comment
11/24/04
David Elliott
David Elliott
San Diego Union-Tribune

As its stricken hero's prominently posed copies of Kafka and Dostoyevsky suggest, the movie takes itself more seriously than it should.

Full Review Source: Village Voice | comment Comment
10/19/04
Dennis Lim
Dennis Lim
Village Voice

A chance for Bale to show off his new lean look for what the filmmaker mistakenly thinks is art.

Full Review Source: Ozus' World Movie Reviews | comment Comment
06/07/05
Dennis Schwartz
Dennis Schwartz
Ozus' World Movie Reviews

Nowhere near so frightening as it pretends to be.

Full Review Source: ReelTalk Movie Reviews | comment Comment
07/11/04
Donald J. Levit
Donald J. Levit
ReelTalk Movie Reviews

Stylishly grim and nervously intriguing for most of its running length, but concludes with an underwhelming, derivative whimper.

Full Review Source: DustinPutman.com | comment Comment
10/28/04
Dustin Putman
Dustin Putman
DustinPutman.com

Reduces tragedy to a mere punch line, and as such its lead character exists less for himself and more for the gratification of the Memento fan club.

Full Review Source: Slant Magazine | comment Comment
10/18/04
Ed Gonzalez
Ed Gonzalez
Slant Magazine

The movie is ingeniously designed. It is also repulsive and I wish I hadn't seen it.

Full Review Source: Philadelphia Daily News | comment Comment
10/29/04
Gary Thompson
Gary Thompson
Philadelphia Daily News

Smacks of a movie made by people who've spent a lot more time watching movies than absorbing them.

Full Review Source: Toronto Star | comment Comment
11/12/04
Geoff Pevere
Geoff Pevere
Toronto Star

Worth a look just to see the frighteningly thin Bale, and some nice washed-out photography from Xavi Giménez.

Full Review Source: Planet Sick-Boy | comment Comment
09/12/04
Jon Popick
Jon Popick
Planet Sick-Boy

This ultimately disappointing picture is suitably dingy-looking, intermittently scary, and boasts a nice, creepy score complete with theremins and Bernard Hermann–esque bass accents.

Full Review Source: L.A. Weekly | comment Comment
10/21/04
Kim Morgan
Kim Morgan
L.A. Weekly

A grimy, excessively art-directed psychological horror flick.

Full Review Source: Entertainment Weekly | comment Comment
10/20/04
Lisa Schwarzbaum
Lisa Schwarzbaum
Entertainment Weekly

The problem with relying on a second viewing is that, the first time out, it's really tough to identify with Reznik in any way.

Full Review Source: New Times | comment Comment
11/25/04
Luke Y. Thompson
Luke Y. Thompson
New Times
 
 
1 - 20 (sorted by rotten rating; Australian critics are listed first)
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