The Machinist

Reviewed by:
Paul Ulane

We're cranky any day we don't get an hour for our post-lunch conference room nap. So we can't begin to imagine how Trevor Reznik (Christian Bale) feels after counting sheep for an entire year. But The Machinist gives us a pretty good idea of what it must be like via relentlessly eerie settings, characters, and background racket. (Not to mention the 60 pounds Bale dropped from his frame to resemble a half-stuffed scarecrow.) Reznik occupies his sleepless nights with long hours of work at the factory and visits to a choice call girl (Jennifer Jason Leigh). But the longer he goes without shut-eye, the stranger things get, and soon he can't tell what's real anymore. Strangers enter his life, coworkers question his sanity, and we question our popcorn purchase with every look at Bale's ghastly face and frame. Fighting through his insomnia in chunks of stilted memory and blackouts, The Machinist is the type of mind-fuck that'll require more than one viewing to fully comprehend. But confusing plot twists aside, the movie's grim style and Bale's desperate performance maintain a constant state of unrest that'll ensure you won't sleep easy anytime soon.

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