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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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41 - 60 (sorted by date; Australian critics are listed first)
Text View | |< << 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 >> >|
Arrange By:Fresh | Rotten | Comments | Name | Source | Date
 
 

It's one of those movies that you admire more than you enjoy, but Anderson and Kosar are clearly talents to watch.

Full Review Source: Seattle Times | comment Comment
12/03/04
Moira MacDonald
Moira MacDonald
Seattle Times

It's well made and involving, and Bale is obviously committed to bringing this desperate character to life.

Full Review Source: Rochester Democrat and Chronicle | comment Comment
12/03/04
Jack Garner
Jack Garner
Rochester Democrat and Chronicle

A stunt that didn't merit Bale's startling, and dangerous, transformation.

Full Review Source: Miami Herald | comment Comment
12/03/04
Rene Rodriguez
Rene Rodriguez
Miami Herald

It begins dark and depressing, but ends up merely dull.

Full Review Source: Detroit News | comment Comment
12/03/04
Tom Long
Tom Long
Detroit News

It is well worth enduring for the performance of Bale.

Full Review Source: Detroit Free Press | comment Comment
12/03/04
Terry Lawson
Terry Lawson
Detroit Free Press

Bale’s weight loss is no acting gimmick, but merely the most extreme aspect of what is truly an astonishing performance.

Full Review Source: Capital Times (Madison, WI) | comment Comment
12/03/04
Rob Thomas
Rob Thomas
Capital Times (Madison, WI)

Bale is totally convincing, if not especially endearing, as the sleep-challenged title character. If it's true that Oscar can't resist a likable actor in a self-punishing role, this one is going to be hard to top come February.

Full Review Source: Seattle Post-Intelligencer | comment Comment
12/02/04
William Arnold
William Arnold
Seattle Post-Intelligencer

The physical terror, at the very least, makes the intended impact. That's more than can be said for this well-crafted, but overall unremarkable psychological thriller.

Full Review Source: South Florida Sun-Sentinel | comment Comment
12/02/04
Phoebe Flowers
Phoebe Flowers
South Florida Sun-Sentinel

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

It would be easy to accuse Bale of a warped kind of egomania if his performance wasn't so mesmerizing.

Full Review Source: Sacramento Bee | comment Comment
11/29/04
Joe Baltake
Joe Baltake
Sacramento Bee

Anderson definitely has a flair for creating a diffuse sense of fear, paranoia, and mental illness onscreen.

Full Review Source: Austin Chronicle | comment Comment
11/28/04
Marjorie Baumgarten
Marjorie Baumgarten
Austin Chronicle

It is not for everyone -- it is difficult to watch, sad to contemplate and not altogether successful. Nonetheless, it is worth seeing for Bale's performance.

Full Review Source: San Diego Metropolitan | comment Comment
11/27/04
Jean Lowerison
Jean Lowerison
San Diego Metropolitan

Low-budget, high-shiver horror film is anchored by Christian Bale's unsettling portrait of insomnia.

Full Review Source: Netflix | comment Comment
11/25/04
James Rocchi
James Rocchi
Netflix

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

Trevor Reznik. Machinist. Insomniac. A man wracked with guilt who can only find redemption ... in the Twilight Zone.

Full Review Source: Las Vegas Weekly | comment Comment
11/25/04
Josh Bell
Josh Bell
Las Vegas Weekly

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

Mainly this is all Bale's show. He is strangely sympathetic, taking us right into Trevor's pain without any special pleading.

Full Review Source: San Francisco Chronicle | comment Comment
11/24/04
Mick LaSalle
Mick LaSalle
San Francisco Chronicle

A superior exercise in mood and atmospherics, a drama that springs from a place of deep disturbance.

Full Review Source: Denver Rocky Mountain News | comment Comment
11/24/04
Robert Denerstein
Robert Denerstein
Denver Rocky Mountain News

A powerful, accomplished movie that lingers.

Full Review Source: Denver Post | comment Comment
11/24/04
Michael Booth
Michael Booth
Denver Post

A pretentious, sadistic film.

Full Review Source: Contra Costa Times | comment Comment
11/24/04
Mary F. Pols
Mary F. Pols
Contra Costa Times
 
 
41 - 60 (sorted by date; Australian critics are listed first)
Text View | |< << 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 >> >|
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