Tonight I watched the new DVD release, The Machinist, starring Christian Bale. This movie came in pretty much under the radar of the mainstream media, with the only attention it received being in regards to the weight loss Bale underwent for the role (he dropped 63 pounds down to a sickly 121 pounds).
While Bale's skeletal body often steals the show, the movie is actually pretty good. I've seen it compared to films such as 'Memento' and 'Fight Club' in regards to the cinematography and plot twists, and I believe these to be pretty fair comparisons. Bale's character is an insomniac who has not slept in over a year, and inevitably his mind is starting to play tricks on him. The movie can be hard to stomach at times between the frequent shots of Bale's unbelievably emaciated body and other distubring imagery. If you're looking for a movie with primary colors, you've come to the wrong place. I think the brightest color you'll find is a dark green. If you enjoyed the aforementioned movies and are in the market for a movie with nothing uplifting about it, checking out 'The Machinist'.

UPDATE: I stumbled across Roger Ebert's review of the movie, and found this to be a very interesting view from Mr.Ebert, who is the greatest movie reviewers of all-time, and a very intelligent and insightful person:
"We get up in the morning in possession of certain assumptions through which all of our experiences must filter. We cannot be rid of those assumptions, although an evolved person can at least try to take them into account. Most people never question their assumptions, and so reality exists for them as they think it does, whether it does or not. Some assumptions are necessary to make life bearable, such as the assumption that we will not die in the next 10 minutes. Others may lead us, as they lead Trevor, into a bleak solitude. Near the end of the movie, we understand him when he simply says, "I just want to sleep.""

This entry was posted by Brad, on Saturday, June 11, 2005. You can leave your response.