The Machinist

SPOILER ALERT:
The Machinist is a bad knock-off of Fight Club and American Psycho, and I’m not just saying that because Christian Bale is in it. What’s great about the multiple personality “slash” psycho scenario is that when it’s done well, it’ll blow peoples’ minds. There’s no solid plot to go along with the movie, so all it is is a guessing game as to when to expect the next twist, which is really cool, when you have a fucking plot. I found myself getting really bored with it, and instead of going off to do something else, I decided to stick with it, because halfway through a bad movie, things can turn for the better. What did itself in, the movie, was give every scene the feeling of being a dark dream, cleverly putting the characters in atmosphere that made me feel just as tired as the insomniac lead role, and I was literally put to sleep in the middle of a chase scene. Identifying with the main character in such an inclusive way wouldn’t have been such a waste if I’d actually cared about him, but I didn’t. Christian Bale is an amazing actor, and he puts his all into every character he gets, which sucks when he is given a character like this one, who is purposefully an emotionless git with nothing to do than be a Joe, who would be much more entertaining being an extra in a car chase. You have a great actor like this, and you use him to portray a human log, you’ll get a class-A human log, but what the fuck good is that to somebody who wants to see a psychological thriller, which is the curtain that this movie hides behind? It was well assembled. The film looks, feels, sounds, and tastes natural, but in all sincerity, the talent and hard work is not worth the story, which isn’t present at all. People often joke about making a shitty movie called “M. Night Shyamalan’s The Twist” and we have it right here, made by Brad Anderson, starring Christian Bale.