Deciphering reality with the lead character

Rating: Null/10 (27 March 2007)

"The Machinist" (2005): Starring a gaunt Christian Bale, and a chubby Jennifer Jason Leigh. In the recent spirit of films such as "Memento", "Pi", "Clean, Shaven", and "Fight Club", we have another truly interesting psychological drama asking us to decipher reality right along with the lead character (Bale). In order to look the role, Bale lost A LOT of weight  until he looked tortured and ready to die. It worked. He is a machinist at a metal working factory. He claims to have not slept  AT ALL  in a year. It's not a healthy state for him. Incidents keep stacking up on him, and he sees a pattern to them maybe and on he goes, trying to lead a normal life, trying to protect himself from perceived threats, trying to find the answers to the puzzles. He is successful with some of his goals.