Heavy stuff

Rating: 10/10 (2 June 2006)

SPOILER ALERT-=-
Ever since I moved to California (from NYC) and started driving, I've always had it in the back of my mind that I had to be extremely careful that I didn't hit anyone while I was in my 2000+ lb. machine, particularly a child. I've always felt that this would be one of the worst things that could possibly happen in someone's life ~ how it would be just unforgivable, and how it would cause unfathomable guilt. So this film had a profound effect on me, by the end of it, when we find out what's really at the bottom of Trevor's severely tormented state of mind.
The film exists inside this mind; the entire film is experienced from this drastically tortured vantage point. Trevor no longer can perceive what is real and what isn't, and so we're not sure either. At first I was thinking the whole thing was a dream, but that didn't quite make sense, because from the way it's shot, with some of the scenes having a little color in them, and some nearly black and white, it felt more like hallucinations were occurring along with some flashes of reality. I think the filmmakers do an absolutely brilliant job in letting us into Trevor's head. Of course, Bale's 110% commitment to the project certainly doesn't hurt. Magnificently realized, The Machinist is a harrowing and monumentally sad cinematic experience.