On M List of Movie Reviews
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The Machinist (2004)
Rate:
4
Viewed:
1/22
1/22:
It wasn't going anywhere in The Machinist for the longest time until the final ten minutes (hence, the constant
reference to 1:30) which explained everything beforehand.
Well, that's not good enough in my book, and Alfred Hitchcock did it so much better in
Vertigo. There's too much "you
see it-now you don't see it anymore" crap. If the movie looks foreign although the setting is supposed to be in
America, it's because they shot it in Barcelona, Spain.
Christian Bale lost sixty pounds for the role. It's nothing extraordinary, but I feel he did a fair job. They could've
gotten a skinny person, and the result was going to be the same anyway. If anyone is interested, water, an apple (or a
can of tuna, a bowl of salad, or whatever), and lots of smoking and coffee with an occasional drink of whiskey are needed per day
to achieve that kind of drastic weight loss in mere months.
The character of Trevor Reznik seems tailor-made for Anthony James in his prime. Ironically, John Sharian,
as Ivan, has an Anthony James-like performance, conjuring up the image of the chauffeur in
Burnt Offerings except
this time he speaks. At any rate, Sharian is a bit more memorable than Christian Bale.
All in all, Hollywood needs to put a limit on actors who use extreme and unsafe methods to achieve their character.