177 out of 187 people found the following review helpful:

Cult Classic!

Alistair McFarlane from Leeds, England, 25th March, 2005

Christian Bale looking his worst and acting at his best. If you like films that make you think, then this film is awesome and not to be missed. Though it's sinistercism will mean it's not everybones cup of tea. Scarred throughout with an underlying dark feel to it. The machinist takes you into the mind of Bale's charachter Trevor who suffers from extreme insomnia. As the film progresses it allows you and Trevor to simultaneously unravel the trail of clues leading to the cause of his insomnia. The backdrop of the average dull toned town that he lives in adds even more realism to this must see film.

52 out of 62 people found the following review helpful:

Fantastic!

Amichaelglg from Surrey, 2nd May, 2005

This was one of the BEST films I have seen for a very very long time. Although the previous post said it was predicatble...Well, it is like saying The Sixth Sense was predicatble !
If you have similar tastes to me and loved Gladiator, The Sixth Sense, Butterfly Effect, Assault On Precinct 13, The Notebook, and many others that don't initially spring to mind then you must SEE this film. I just cannot praise it highly enough !

47 out of 58 people found the following review helpful:

A movie that will make you think.

Felicity from Horsham, West Sussex, 9th April, 2005

This is a truly wonderful and scary movie. Christian Bale looks scarier even than his character in American Psycho, yet this has to be his best role to date. This film will keep you guessing until the end.

35 out of 39 people found the following review helpful:

Intriguing, infuriating insomniac

ATfilmcritic from London, 17th March, 2005

Chilling, compelling psychological mystery, which, despite a mostly predictable denouement, remains gripping and disturbing from beginning to end; and the incohesive whole is driven fiercely by Bale’s astonishing commitment.

His ferocious, powerful performance should be marked down as one of the greatest human achievements in cinema- starved down to an unrecognizable bare-bones of a person (“If you were any thinner…you wouldn’t exist”), Bale’s extraordinary feat of losing 63 pounds, transforming his usual muscular self into a skeletal ghost, is the greatest physical weight loss in film history. His dedication shows, and ultimately lifts the film from mediocrity.

26 out of 29 people found the following review helpful:

Exceptional

NorthernTony from West Yorkshire, 16th November, 2005

What an exceptionally good film and how good an actor is Christian Bale? He is just brilliant with little touches, gestures and mannerisms here and there that make the film his. A lot less complicated, once you've found out what is going on, this is one man's journey into his subconcious mind. Can't recommend it highly enough.

21 out of 21 people found the following review helpful:

I CAN'T BELIEVE IT'S NOT NOLAN...

hunkydomste from from Liverpool, 12th September, 2008

Do you ever think, maybe one day Christian Bale will wake up and say: 'I wanna go and make a funny movie today. Who do I call about a part in White Chicks 2?' No? Phew, me neither. Because Mr Bale, this generation's Gary Oldman, does dark, gloomy and disturbing so very, very well. Before the muscly beefiness of the reinvented Batman came his malnourished, skeletonous and deeply creepy portrait of Trevor Reznik, a machinist who has not slept in a year, suffering from Insomnia and hallucinations. Or are they? As Reznik's world slowly unravels, so does the mystery surrounding the onset of his sleeplessness and the people and things that haunt him. The Machinist is a dark, twisted and uncomfortable movie that is very reminiscent of the style of Christopher Nolan, especially Memento. Bale's outstanding performances aside, Jennifer Jason Leigh is a strong support and everybody else does their bit nicely. The story is immersing enough to be forgiven for being predictable at times and the ending is not as 'wow' as Brad Anderson may have hoped for. Watch it for the right reasons though (very atmospheric and an iconic role for Bale) and you will thoroughly enjoy it. SEE THIS IF YOU LIKED * MEMENTO * FIGHT CLUB * INSOMNIA

19 out of 28 people found the following review helpful:

Bales' best film so far.

Rob Pickles from Manchester, 6th July, 2005

I got this film mixed up with 'the Jacket' based on a screen pic i saw, but dispite the mistake i was still entertained. This is a film that you have to see knowing very little about it in order to enjoy it fully. However if you are unsure i will say that this type of film has been done before. And that this film is an echo of a favourite film of mine. To the film makers credit though, they gave the Machinist it's own style. The score plays through out the film to hide it's slowness, but the score worked well. Seeing Christian Bale that thin...well i thought i was thin and i'm a lard ass compared to him. Him being that thin shows how much he believed in the film. I think this is Bales best film to date. I saw Batman Begins the day before and thought he was good in that, but in this film it's the first time i've seen him as a character not and actor playing a character. The only thing that i was disappointed with was that it wasn't physcological enough. I wanted to get inside the characters brain. And there to be a bit more suspense. This is what stops me from wanting to buy it. But i'm definatly glad i rented it. Not for everyone and it's been done before, but it was interesting.

17 out of 25 people found the following review helpful:

Avoid

Jonners from Richmond, Surrey, 9th January, 2007

Utterly banal, artless, self indulgent and boring in the extreme. Watch a scatological mind at work if you wish, but don't convince yourself that this is a good film.

12 out of 16 people found the following review helpful:

Sinister

philip reardon from St Albans, 23rd July, 2005

A dark movie , enhanced by the sepia/black/white filming.Great psychodrama (individuals act out, before an audience, situations from thier past)no wonder he is an insomniac!To the other reviewers who were concerned/ spent half the movie worrying about, the DRAMATIC weight loss that poor Chris Bales had to go through..... He is an actor, he has a character to portray, it is an intergral part of his job! I was very concerned that he had to grow a beard, imagine that......... not shaving.... not wearing aftershave..... Hi diddle de dee.......

10 out of 11 people found the following review helpful:

Crap !!!!

A Customer from England, 17th February, 2006

Really wired film, some kind of hangman story theme all the way through. Didnt get the ending !!!!