Entertaining Visual and Psychological Treat

Rating: 9/10 (30 January 2011)

The Machinist stars a rather shockingly thin Christian Bale who plays an industrial machine operator in social decline.
The film is beautifully presented in black and white with a blue/grey tone and added dashes of colour! The supporting cast are great and Michael Ironside is always entertaining whatever his role.
The film concentrates on the psychological aspect of Bale's character in a way that the viewer can almost experience his decline. Not many films have successfully portrayed this type of character particularly in such an entertaining way.
Although the character has been described as unlikeable or repulsive, I found him to be human and as such had no judgement!
The film moves at a medium pace and is thoroughly enjoyable. There are some obvious nods to Hitchcock's Psycho, and also to famous literature (of which I am not familiar). I did not think that these links were necessary and believe that they detract very slightly from the movie itself. Also instead of spelling out certain elements of the plot, the film could have benefited by a little ambiguity.
Positives - Cinematography, Characters, Performances
Negatives - Leaves too little to the imagination
Overall - Bale could do with pie and chips!