Reminded me of "Memento"

Rating: 8/10 (10 July 2005)

"The Machinist" is a dark drama all about an unrecognizable Bale as a gaunt machinist who hasn't slept in a year and looks to be a sandwich away from the grave as we observe his daily activities which invariably include some peculiar and irreconcilable events. The film opens with the protagonist dumping a corpse and then flashes back where it spends the rest of the run working it's way back to it beginning in a series of interesting if not compelling and strange if not unsettling happenings. As the film wears on we get the notion it is either a well done work which is trying to get us to empathize with a likable but delusional man or a shoddy film which is trying to delve into the realm of the paranormal. Fortunately, it's the former and a solid watch for drama enthusiasts who like curious plots (ala "Memento") with protagonists who are suffering from them. (B+)