"The Machinist" is a psychological thriller where Christian Bale plays Trevor Reznik, a machine operator who has been suffering from serious sleeping disorder for about a year. He looks at objects doubtfully, his physical appearance is that of a terribly thin person and seems like his skin just covers his skeleton. The movies starts off showing Trevor, getting rid of a dead body rolled inside a carpet.
Trevor Reznik’s character is that of a person suffering from severe insomnia which forces him to spend nights cleaning his floor using a toothbrush and bleach, visiting his girlfriend Stevie(a prostitute), or sitting in an airport cafeteria for coffee where he talks to the waitress Maria who is also his friend. He spends his day working as machinist at an industrial workshop and gets along well with his co-workers except his supervisor.
All hell breaks loose when he meets Ivan just outside the workshop sitting in a red car parked just beside Trevor’s car. Ivan tells him that he works in the same place as Trevor although he doesn’t recognize him. Then follows series of accidents: the first one is that of his co-worker Miller who loses his arm to a lathe machine due to Trevor’s distraction caused when he sees Ivan working at the other end and gesturing at him. Trevor blames Ivan(who is not known to anybody there) for the accident and gets a warning. The next day, Trevor almost loses his arm when gets distracted again and starts doubting his co-workers for that incident and is eventually fired by the management. He accompanies Maria and her little son Nicholas to an amusement park, where Nicholas suffers an epileptic attack after taking a fun ride along with Trevor.
Life tends to get worse for Trevor as he forgets to pay his electricity bill and other payments as a result of which he starts to live in the dark in a state of paranoia. The notes that he had stuck on the refrigerator as reminders to make payments, now depict the game of “Hangman” which he considers clues to trace the one ruining his life. He makes desperate attempts to get hold of Ivan and believes that he has the answers to his questions. Trevor is now determined to find Ivan and chases him fanatically when he spots him driving his red car.
Ivan escapes but Trevor makes note of the number plate and heads to the police station to get Ivan’s details. The cops refuse grant any information, so Trevor throws himself before a speeding car and gets injured. He uses his injury as a hit and run case and files a report with the car number plate details to trace Ivan. The sequence of events which follow, hold the answers to all the questions in Trevor’s mind and uncover logic behind the first scene which shows Trevor disposing a dead body.
“The Machinist” is a treat for audience who enjoy psychological thrillers and is about guilt, fear, darkness and confession. The screenplay is simple and straight and the story beautifully unfolds as we continue watching till end. A couple of scenes which depict the serious consequences of Trevor’s actions and carelessness caused by his insomnia will move you.
The cinematography for "The Machinist" deserves a lot of praise for maintaining dull grey and brown shades throughout the movie. It shows a lot about the life of the protagonist and that you can easily relate to. Christian Bale gives an astonishingly brilliant performance which will force every viewer to sympathize with his character. He lost 63 pounds to play the role of Trevor, a man reduced to bones. Bale later gained 65 pounds for his next movie Batman Begins to sport a magnificent physique. “The Machinist” can be considered a very promising underrated movie and is definitely worth a watch.