Fairly Interesting, but a Disappointment

Rating: 6/10 (6 September 2010)

I was really excited to see this movie because I heard so much about how dangerously skinny Christian Bale got for the role. I thought if he was willing to risk his health for this, it must be an amazing film. Unfortunately, I was disappointed.
I was disappointed in the plot, not Bale's performance. He was excellent. He was a creepy, scummy, mysterious guy with a secret, sleeping with a prostitute, getting coffee from the same waitress every night, and working at a dark, dirty factory. I got his character, I felt it. I didn't feel like I knew him (which is one of my favorite things about movie characters), but that was the point. I felt the director was very successful in this. I wanted to know what his deal was. I longed to find out what the heck was his problem. Bale's facial expressions and actions provoked this need in me. That's great.
The plot is my problem. This is a movie that tries desperately to be some kind of complex thriller, where the conclusion pieces everything together and the viewer feels like they've just witnessed some incredible puzzle be ripped apart and put back together. It fails. It's confusing, it's not cohesive. It doesn't really feel like it fits together. It's like putting that puzzle together with pieces from another puzzle. The ending was incredibly unsatisfying to me. The movie tries to have some metaphorical pieces, I think, but they go unnoticed. They just add to the confusion. I would like the story if it didn't so hard to shock you, twist up your perception of the whole situation at the end. It would have had a better impact if it was more simple. I like thinkers, don't get me wrong. I just cannot stand movies that try to fit that description and fail.
This is an okay movie that is almost great. It's kinda tragic, I think, how close the director was to having gold, but then having plastic instead. I didn't buy this movie but I think I would have regretted it if I had. I'm not going to buy it. If a friend wanted to watch this movie with me, I wouldn't mind, but I wouldn't spend anything on it.