Amazing performance

Rating: 8/10 (5 May 2010)

A man named Trevor has not slept for a year. He is deliriously tired. He inadvertently causes accidents at work, at a factory of unspecified sort. His only companion is a prostitute, and he is starting to see things.
Not just mild hallucinations, either. He finds strange notes all over his apartment, and sees a strange coworker that no one else does. He begins to envision a vast conspiracy, one that everyone in his life is contributing to.
So is the first act of 'The Machinist', a very interesting thriller to say the least. It is somewhat reminiscent of Christopher Nolan's 'Memento' in that much of what is obscured throughout is due to a severe mental condition. Trevor's symptoms are extreme to put it mildly.
First off, Christian Bale's performance is outstanding. He looks terrible, moves like someone that hasn't slept in a year, and talks like one too. When he starts to lose his grip on sanity, his sudden and frightening reactions to what only he sees illustrates the true alienation from reality that this character is experiencing.
The film's style is also very interesting. The color is very muted, as it is when one is sleep-deprived, and the editing is random and scattershot, using sometimes odd angles that serve to immerse the viewer inside Trevor's head. The film takes a few minutes to get used to, but when it's going, the viewer becomes entranced in not only the story, but the protagonist's mind as well.
The story itself could have used some more originality in its conclusion, but I tell myself that a film is more about the journey than the destination. I suppose that is true, and the ending works, without really serving to shock or surprise.
In the end, however, the film is very much worth watching for the experience of the film itself, much like Nolan's mind game.