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Rating: 5/10 (2 June 2018)

'The Machinist' is a dull and anti-climatic film that is only held up by a strong and committed performance by Christian Bale. I had not heard much about this film prior watching it, and my only knowledge on it was that Bale had lost a significant amount of weight for this role. The opening scene promises a dark and compelling (murder?) mystery, but as soon as this scene is over, the remainder of the film drags on. It became clear from the beginning that the character is insane, and therefore not everything is reality. By revealing this so early into the film, the plot-twist at the end isn't anything special. There's no 'ah-ha' moment where you sit there, surprised, shocked and entertained once the movie makes all sense. It's rather an 'oh, okay' moment. While I think the plot wasn't too bad in itself, it was simply the whole way this film was directed. Overly long scenes combined with a very bleak color palette can easily diminish ones attention. However, this film does have a few silver linings. Christian Bale does a fantastic job in this role, fully embodying the character - even from a physical level. The complexity and insanity of the character is highly believable and I'm surprised this did not get an Academy Award nomination! The supporting cast also do a fine job in their roles but were all evidently undermined by Bale. Another perk of the film was the eerie and surreal soundtrack by Roque Baños, who contributed the most to the bizarre and psychotic atmosphere that lingers over this film. Overall, this film was a disappointment for me as it dragged on and led to nowhere. However, it's always a pleasure watching brilliant acting play out on the screen, as well as hearing a masterful soundtrack.