Number 542 on the top 1000 films of all time is Brad Anderson's 2004 psychological thriller 'The Machinist.'
Trevor Reznik (Christian Bale) is a machinist who hasn't slept in over a year. Dangerously underweight, he starts having a paranoid delusions as he wonders whether somebody is playing games with him. But are these delusions or real or not?
This is the David Fincher film that David Fincher never made. It's easy to draw connections to Fight Club, most notably, with the theme of insomnia. Of course, it's impossible for anybody to stay awake for a year, so this film is pure hokum. I was certainly willing to suspend my disbelief for a good film.
And the Machinist was a good film. Up until the final reveal, Brad Anderson drip-fed us twist after twist. You could never tell what was going to happen next. He certainly created an atmosphere of dread with creepy imagery. Case in point that freaky ghost-train scene. Seriously, what was that? Although I'm not sure how much it works now that I know the final twist.
But Anderson also made great use of colour contrasting a cold, industrial blue-light for Reznik's present-day scenes and a warmer hue for all his flashbacks.
One thing I will admit is that I have never been keen on Christian Bale's acting ability. Sure he takes method-acting to an extreme evidenced by the intense amount of weight he lost for this role, but I don't think he has great emotional range. Trevor Reznik was just one of the many dark, brooding, moody men that he plays. Sure, he does it well, but I want to see something else.
Nevertheless, the Machinist was an incredibly creepy, and well-directed thriller. Although it's obviously pure hokum. Who's up for a game of hangman?
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