My Review of 'The Machinist'

I had been told and also heard a lot about the movie 'The Machinist'. First off I had heard about Christian Bale's performance and the preparation he went through for this movie by loosing almost 60 pounds and looking anorexic through out the movie. The conviction is commendable. Then I also came across the name of this movie through a lot of web sites recommending mind bending movies with a lot of food for thought. I looked up the movie on imdb.com, and that was enough persuasion for me to watch the movie.

The movie starts off on a high note. Like a lot of such kind of movies, it starts off with the climax. It leaves you definitely glued to know what that was all about. But as the movie progresses you start to get a feeling where this is going. I guess the director wanted to tell the story by giving the viewer an idea about the twist way early. But you definitely aren't aware why this is happening. That is what keeps you sticking around for more. There are lot of twists which are brought in to keep you guessing as to exactly what is going on and why. But as I mentioned, you do have an idea as to what it can be.

To a certain extent this movie was confusing to me because as a storyline there was an element of mystery but it wasn't told in a highly gripping fashion. Some times you just get restless wondering what is the reason why this is happening cause you have kind of guessed it. So I was expecting a message, a comment on the society at large. The movie does talk about a machinist in the contemporary time, who is suffering from something. The constant washes with the bleach, the insomnia, the loner attitude. It gave me a feeling that it was the directors take on modern urban living where in people are surrounded but are still lonely, especially in America. Gave me a feeling of how I might turn out if I were to end up alone in life.

But I beg to differ as to how an incident can have such an impact on a persons brain for so long without going noticed. I guess what the director, Brad Anderson, was going for was a dramatic portrayal of sorts. Of how incidents in life can have an impact on your brain. That is the reason why this movie wasn't convincing enough. I guess this judgment could be also marred cause of the expectation I was having out of this movie. Or if may be the suspense would have been much tighter, it might have been a good thriller with a decent message too towards the end.

The high point of this movie is definitely Christian Bale. This guy shows true conviction to the part by loosing 60 pounds for this role. I cant even begin to imagine what he might have had to do to get that size and then post the shooting, to regain his shape. He has always been a good actor but this movie sold me on his conviction. I am definitely looking forward to seeing his other movies and also his upcoming movies.

I would definitely recommend you watch this movie. The high ratings are justified based on performances, direction and also the level of suspense that is there. But the story telling could have been different which could have made it more gripping. As I mentioned, may be I am not seeing it the way it is meant to be. Nonetheless, definitely a must see.