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Movies / On DVD / 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

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; UK critics are listed first)
Text View | 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 >> >|
Arrange By:Fresh | Rotten | Comments | Name | Source | Date
 
 

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

One 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.

Full Review Source: Time Out | comment Comment
02/09/06
Geoff Andrew
Geoff Andrew
Time Out
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

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.

Full Review Source: Empire Magazine | comment Comment
04/01/06
Ian Nathan
Ian Nathan
Empire Magazine
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

You'll join the dots in Anderson's thriller within the first five minutes - a real crying shame since Bale deserved much more for his pound -- or 63 -- of flesh.

Full Review Source: BBC | comment Comment
01/26/05
Jamie Russell
Jamie Russell
BBC
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

The performances are nothing short of superb - Bale's skeletal form alone is likely to be the most haunting visual image of the year.

Full Review Source: ViewLondon | comment Comment
03/19/05
Matthew Turner
Matthew Turner
ViewLondon

Anderson struggles to maintain an emotional connection, but he crafts a remarkably sure-handed little thriller.

Full Review Source: Shadows on the Wall | comment Comment
11/04/04
Rich Cline
Rich Cline
Shadows on the Wall
N/R

Click to read the article

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

Click to read the article

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
 
 
1 - 20 (sorted by rotten rating; UK critics are listed first)
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Latest News for The Machinist

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Movie City News shares with us a press release from the London Film Critics Group in which their various nominations are announced. Keep in mind that the Brit crits use their... More...

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