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Movies / On DVD / The Machinist
The Machinist

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The Machinist (2004)

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Reviews Counted:8

Fresh:8

Rotten:0

Average Rating:7/10

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 - 8 (sorted by date; UK critics are listed first)
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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
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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
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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
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The director Brad Anderson, working from a screenplay by Scott Kosar, wants to convey a state of mind, and he and Bale do that with disturbing effectiveness.

Full Review Source: Chicago Sun-Times | comment Comment
11/19/04
Roger Ebert
Roger Ebert
Chicago Sun-Times
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Bale, always a nervy, risk-taking actor, gives a haunting performance of fierce concentration that goes beyond his dramatic weight loss.

Full Review Source: Los Angeles Times | comment Comment
10/21/04
Kevin Thomas
Kevin Thomas
Los Angeles Times
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Christian Bale's 63-pound weight loss makes this bleak thriller one of the few movies to scale the barrier between chilly fantasy and authentic cinematic nightmare.

Full Review Source: New York Times | comment Comment
10/21/04
Stephen Holden
Stephen Holden
New York Times
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Pic's integrity is clinched by Bale, whose haunted, aggressive and finally wrenching performance gives The Machinist a strong anchor.

Full Review Source: Variety | comment Comment
09/29/04
Todd McCarthy
Todd McCarthy
Variety
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In its very calibrations, from Scott Alan Kosar's edgy, spooky script to Anderson's provocative visualizations of Trevor's disintegrating mind-set, The Machinist is a gem.

Full Review Source: Hollywood Reporter | comment Comment
01/20/04
Duane Byrge
Duane Byrge
Hollywood Reporter
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1 - 8 (sorted by date; UK critics are listed first)
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