The Machinist

Name: The Machinist
Genre: Mystery, Thriller
Released: October 22, 2004
Duration: 101 min
Rating: 61
Cast: Aitana Sánchez-Gijón, Christian Bale, Jennifer Jason Leigh

2004

METASCORE

Generally favorable reviews based on 32 Critic Reviews

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USER SCORE

Universal acclaim based on 473 Ratings

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8.6

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8.6	User Score Universal acclaim based on 473 Ratings

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The Machinist

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Movie Details & Credits

Paramount Classics | Release Date: October 22, 2004 | R

Starring: Aitana Sánchez-Gijón, Christian Bale, Jennifer Jason Leigh

Summary: Trevor Reznik has not slept for a year. His every waking minute has become an unremitting nightmare of confusion, paranoia, guilt, anxiety and terror - each of which is part of an escalating series of clues that will lead to the source of his mysterious affliction. (Paramount Classics)

Director: Brad Anderson

Genre(s): Mystery, Thriller

Rating: R

Runtime: 101 min

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Critic Reviews

Duane Byrge

A brilliantly honed tale of dementia, starring a skeletal Christian Bale as a tormented insomniac wasting away and terrorized by his irreal existence. Read full review

Don R. Lewis

The Machinist is so brave and visually impressive, it should demand an audience. Read full review

Jack Mathews

Bale gives a near-great performance as a man with all the symptoms of paranoid schizophrenia and the film weaves an ingenious psychological web. Read full review

Marjorie Baumgarten

Never gives us the nuts and bolts of mental illness and guilt, just the sight of cooped-up steam escaping from a valve that’s about to blow. Read full review

Stephen Holden

May be an expertly manipulated exercise in psychological horror, but that's all it is. Don't look for the kind of metaphoric weight you'd find in a movie by David Lynch or David Fincher. Read full review

Kim Morgan

In a way, though, it’s all Bale's show. Withering down to an alarming 120 pounds, he delivers a deeply obsessed performance that leaves us both fascinated and sickened. Read full review

Nathan Rabin

Unrelentingly dreary, and seemingly destined to be remembered, if at all, as that movie Christian Bale lost a full third of his body weight for. It doesn't deserve any better. Read full review

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User Reviews

Impugn

Jan 12, 2020

Brilliant mystery thriller !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&

16 of 16 users found this helpful160

LindaL.

Jan 3, 2006

The negative remarks by critics puzzle me: If this had been a Sean Penn movie they'd all be talking "Oscar." This film is intense, disturbing, moving; Christian Bale's performance is profound. it's one of those movies whose puzzles and upsetting questions (sort of like The negative remarks by critics puzzle me: If this had been a Sean Penn movie they'd all be talking "Oscar." This film is intense, disturbing, moving; Christian Bale's performance is profound. it's one of those movies whose puzzles and upsetting questions (sort of like "Memento," but less gimmicky) have you worried that it'll end before you figure it out. Yet the resolution is satisfying (dramatically, at least).… Expand

0 of 0 users found this helpful

Ralfbergs

Jun 7, 2015

A really good movie with a great script and good actors.Christian Bale is really good in this, not only for his weight loss but also for his acting. While at first you will feel a bit awkward and maybe even disgusted seeing him like that, after a while movie sucks you in and you want to knowA really good movie with a great script and good actors.Christian Bale is really good in this, not only for his weight loss but also for his acting. While at first you will feel a bit awkward and maybe even disgusted seeing him like that, after a while movie sucks you in and you want to know what will happen next, which, I'll say won't be always that predictable, especially the ending. Also I think movie makes you think, especially after you know what happens at the end. Definitely worth a watch and I'm sad that I didn't watch it earlier and put it off all the time.… Expand

4 of 4 users found this helpful40

ahmedaiman1999

Sep 11, 2019

If it just didn't insist to be Memento.....!

Anderson and Kosar managed to convey the state of mind of Reznik in a way that's as remarkable as Christian Bale's shocking body transformation and terrific performance. Unfortunately, the film is bogged down by relying heavily on itsIf it just didn't insist to be Memento.....!

Anderson and Kosar managed to convey the state of mind of Reznik in a way that's as remarkable as Christian Bale's shocking body transformation and terrific performance. Unfortunately, the film is bogged down by relying heavily on its "mind-blowing twists", which are as obvious as Bale's ribs in this film. It's an unsatisfying watch for sure, but only because how great it would have been if it hadn't been pretentious. Still, it's a quite taut and suspenseful psychological thriller.

(8/10)… Expand

0 of 4 users found this helpful04

timone

Aug 22, 2018

I'm pretty sure people will understand what The Machinist is about when Christian Bale has lost a lot of weight and I mean a lot of weight. He is certainly a fantastic actor who is great at everything with losing weight to get into the character. It's quite shocking to see his body goingI'm pretty sure people will understand what The Machinist is about when Christian Bale has lost a lot of weight and I mean a lot of weight. He is certainly a fantastic actor who is great at everything with losing weight to get into the character. It's quite shocking to see his body going through like this. In this he plays Trevor Reznik, a machinist who has insomnia and hasn't slept for a year. It has one gory scene where Michael Ironside's arm came off at the machine. Trevor apparently has seen two accidents like I said today that Michael Ironside's character had his arm come off and a young boy having a seizure at "Route 666". There just loads of things went into his head since he doesn't get enough for a whole year when he has nightmares. It's quite like an ambiguous ending in American Psycho. I really was gripped at the chase scene after Trevor got run over by a car causing a hit and run. This film is so astonishingly psychological it grabs your attention in order to understand what Christian Bale is going through. It's kinda like Fight Club and Memento which I haven't seen before but those elements go through together in The Machinist for how evocative it is. For how much a gripping psychological thriller it really is. The twist ending is quite depressing but you know how this goes.… Expand

1 of 4 users found this helpful13

MrPajamas

May 8, 2021

The Machinist is a mysterious film and in my eyes a very good film. We follow the life of Trevor Reznik, who I have to work with machines, and he doesn't seem to like the job. So you can feel that aversion to it, but at the same time he knows that he has to do the job. I do not know how toThe Machinist is a mysterious film and in my eyes a very good film. We follow the life of Trevor Reznik, who I have to work with machines, and he doesn't seem to like the job. So you can feel that aversion to it, but at the same time he knows that he has to do the job. I do not know how to describe it. I liked the atmosphere in this film, which was underlined by Christian Bale, who plays the main character here. Absolutely phenomenal figure, emaciated to the bone. Bale really went crazy here, but on the other hand, he probably did what he wanted to do, to create a quality mysterious film that gets to a completely different level after an unnamed bald man appears, but I won't spoil it anymore. Overall, the film is mysterious and so mysterious, but after watching it is quite clear how it is, even if it is not and you have to think about it, or find an explanation on the Internet. For me, a good film that I recommend.… Expand

0 of 3 users found this helpful03

Printninja

Dec 1, 2005

I picked The Machinist up out of curiosity, after hearing the hoopla concerning Bale's dramatic weight loss to get the part, and seeing the positive reviews. After Batman Begins it thought it would be intriguing to see what a "skeletal" Bale looked like, but it turned out to be about I picked The Machinist up out of curiosity, after hearing the hoopla concerning Bale's dramatic weight loss to get the part, and seeing the positive reviews. After Batman Begins it thought it would be intriguing to see what a "skeletal" Bale looked like, but it turned out to be about the same as seeing one of those poor starving dogs on a change can at the checkout counter in a convenience store. You look, you feel sorry for the dog, but you really don't care to know much more. Feed it, or put it out of it's misery. That's what I wanted to do to Bale's character in this movie. Instead, I had to sit through a plodding telling of a pretty boring tale. As provocative as the hallucinatory/psychotic effects from a year of sleep deprivation were, they just didn't make up for the flat, tedious story. Yeah, we knew SOMETHING big happened to make this guy so screwed up, and if the ending delivered that something big, I could have forgiven the rest of the movie for being so lifeless. Unfortunately, the satisfying ending I was expecting didn't happen. Nope. All in all, the Machinist left me hungry for something more... like a good story.… Expand

0 of 0 users found this helpful

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39	#39 Most Discussed Movie of 2004
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