adonis98-743-186503
An industrial worker who hasn't slept in a year begins to doubt his own sanity. The Machinist was a film that i didn't know what to expect at first cause i didn't want to be left disappointed or anything like that but in the end it paid off 100% thanks to Christian Bale's unbelievable perfomance but also his absurd weight loss even tho it made him look weird he did something with it that a few people do good this days and that's is that he act his b*tt off and it paid off. Getting inside the mind of the character is the most interesting and unique part of the film but also his scenes with Michael Ironside were brilliant and Bale even recoved back his weight one year later with Batman Begins (2005). (A+)
Pjtaylor-96-138044
'The Machinist (2004)' is an under-seen and underrated gem, a Hitchcockian psychological thriller based on a twisty, nuanced screenplay. It boasts a fantastic performance from Christian Bale and an excellent Hermann-esque score. It's one of the most compelling and unpredictable films in the genre. When the twists come, they feel earned and enhance the overall effect of the piece. Fantastic, unexpected stuff. 8/10
Weiming Sheng
The Machinist is one of those films whose reviews do not reveal even half of the great things about the movie- because most reviews are spoiler-free, and if this movie is to be praised, spoilers must be involved. After watch 2/3 of the film, I said to myself, "what a great film! How come it not score 9 at IMDb when movies like Star Wars: A New Hope can get a 8.4?" Well, it must be the ending. The ending must have somehow ruined the film. It must be so! And it turns out that the ending is one of the best I have seen in a long while. I should give the film a 10, but since I am a nitpicking prick, I would say the color palette is way too extreme and it distracts the viewers in some scenes. Therefore, 1 point off, but still, what a great movie! The acting in this movie is phenomenal. Not to exaggerate, but Christian Bale is almost unsurpassable in this film. This is Godfather level acting. I don't even care about how he lost weight for the movie. The screen portrayal alone is enough to convince me that Bale is one of the best actors in this generation. He manages to be highly stylized and highly naturalistic at the same time, which is simply incredible. Ivan and other characters' performance were also great. Full mark for acting. And then we come to narrative. Oh god. The director is truly a fully-equipped, novel, and splendid storyteller! I have never had such thrill out of the storytelling since Momento, and fairly speaking, I think this is a better film than Momento. This is another one of those plots that would be more than boring if told in chronological order, but the director did it in such a beautiful way that it becomes so engrossingly intricate. Also full mark for story. In conclusion, this film definitely makes it into my must-watch list. It is very confusing to me why it is so underrated, and films like Star Wars: A New Hope can get more than one point higher rating.
