Involving thriller with a weak resolution

Rating: 6/10 (21 January 2004)

My first screening at the 2004 Sundance Film Festival was The Machinist. It's a taut, slow-paced, involving thriller about a man (Christian Bale) who states that he hasn't slept in a year. He's beginning to show strain at work, in his relationships, and with himself when he begins to see things that might not really be there. Bale is good, and his weigh loss here (staggeringly shocking) puts Tom Hanks in Cast Away to shame. The music score is excellent, and reminds one of Bernard Herrmann, and the muted gray colors throughout keep one in an insomniac's limbo like its main character. If the resolution to the film's mystery and involvement hadn't been so weak, I would recommend it to those who liked Fight Club or Memento, but alas, it barely gets a recommendation at all, and only to those who are undemanding seekers of mysteries. B- *** out of ****