"If you were any thinner, you wouldn't exist."

Rating: Null/10 (24 April 2005)

The Machinist is the new thriller from director Brad Anderson and manages to pack in a few surprises. The first surprise is Christian Bale's dedication. He plays a machinist who could be losing his mind due to chronic insomnia. He claims he hasn't slept in a year. Bale lost a reported 63 pounds for the role! His screen appearance is startling. Remember Stephen King's Thinner? Well Bale's using no make-up and he achieves a similar look as the main character in Thinner. It's astounding and disturbing at the same time. The second thing that surprised me was the script. When the writing credit crept on screen I thought "Scott Kosar...isn't that the go-to remake guy?" He penned the new take on The Texas Chainsaw Massacre (and he's redoing The Amityville Horror next). This film is a long way off from that one. I guess Ben Affleck was right. You do the safe picture, then you do the art picture. The Machinest is a nice quiet pace for a change, without all the choppy editing tricks. I like those kinds of films when the slow pace builds a good tension and the payoff is made tenfold better. However, I felt the payoff here was a bit disappointing. I had ideas as to what was going on but kept saying to myself "This film will rise above that." Well, it didn't. I was expecting something truly astounding at the end to knock my socks off. I guess M. Night Shamalyan can be blamed for that one. But Anderson's own Session 9 left me wanting more immediately and I over-hyped myself for his next outing. Regardless of what I see as flaws, the film looked breathtakingly beautiful and I'll be watching out for Brad Anderson's next film. I just won't let the hype get to me.