LaFountaine

The Machinist Movie

On Thursday, I saw the movie “The Machinist”, which starred: Christian Bale, Jennifer Jason Leigh, Aitana Sanchez-Gijon, John Sharian and Michael Ironside.

The storyline involved the following: “Does hell exist or do we create our own? This is the larger question screenwriter Scott Kosar asks as we watch machinist Trevor Reznik (Christian Bale) stumble through his disintegrating world in this psychological thriller inspired by introspective mindbenders like Roman Polanski's The Tenant and Wim Wenders's The American Friend. From the moment we glimpse Trevor's freakishly emaciated frame, it's obvious that something is eating him away from the inside, the same thing responsible for his chronic insomnia. With apparently no Nytol or sleep aids available in his zip code, a strung-out Trevor continues working at a dangerous industrial facility until he causes an accident that costs a coworker his arm. When no one recalls the imposing bald man whom Trevor claims distracted him during the incident, he is ostracized by his coworkers and ultimately fired. He tries to find comfort in a sympathetic hooker (Jennifer Jason Leigh) who has fallen in love with him, and a kind waitress and single mom (Aitana Sanchez-Gijon), who works at his favorite all-night diner, but even they offer little solace as his paranoia mounts. What is real, what is memory, and what is imagined? Trevor clings to the last shreds of his sanity before he finally faces the truth about the only demon that matters--the one with the tortured face staring back at him in the mirror.”

I give the movie a “B”, and the movie is worth the price of an admission ticket, a large popcorn and a small soft drink. The movie was an excellent mystery-psychological thriller, but it was little too dark for me.

posted by Frank LaFountaine @ 1:48 PM