The Machinist: Brad Anderson and the Machinist (2005 Video) User Reviews

Fantastic psychological drama is a masterpiece.

[FioMnsfld · 9/10 · 10 November 2005]

Let's get this straight. This movie is brilliant. No question. It's one of those films you may have to see more than once to fully understand, but that just adds to its overall mystique.

The plot is, a man is living alone, losing weight, basically looking like a walking skeleton (Christian Bale lost 63 pounds to play the part.) He has to write notes everywhere (reminescent of Momento) and regularly visits a prostitute, who develop a relationship that is more than just physical. Then he finds a note which he has not written himself, appears on his fridge. It is a game of hangman, and the letters which have been revealed so far are _ _ _ _ E R. After he discovers this, his life seems to go downhill.

The great thing about this movie is the brilliant story and direction. As the main character starts to find out what is going on, so do you. This makes you develop a real relationship with the main character. The story is seemingly straightforward at first, but as the movie goes on, it becomes more complex. You may have to watch this a few times to completely understand it, but it is a truly rewarding, emotional, at times taxing movie. This deserves completely the cult status it has earned and is a real gem. See it.

Brilliant and Haunting

[ward_ja · 9/10 · 11 January 2007]

Just saw it in Showtime and still quite taken by the overall experience of the music, cinematography, plot, and mood of the film. Had to look it up on-line immediately because I had never heard of it or the director or writer. The acting has some spotty moments (few) but the story builds steadily and grippingly to the denouement. Taken as an integral whole, this is an unusually entertaining film. A fable of guilt and redemption.

This picture deserves cult status. In particular, the music weaves in and out of the drama, adding a wonderful emotional aura to the developing suspense. Yet I was completely unfamiliar with the composer as well as the other non-acting principle artists in the credits. A delightful surprise for my evening viewing.

Not the best of it's genre, but definitely good

[semi_cool18 · 6/10 · 13 November 2005]

The Machinest is an interesting movie which at first seems to be like every other psychological thriller out there, and then proves itself to be unique.

The main character (Christian Bale), hasn't slept for a year (and can't if he wanted to) and is a 121-pound skeleton-man. He is so skinny its actually disturbing, and I actually felt uncomfortable watching him in this state. Strange things start happening to him, and he's not sure what they are or if they're even real. At this point, the premise is nothing shockingly new to this genre of movie, and some viewers (like myself) might think they have everything pretty much figured out. I'm not going to spoil anything for you, but things didn't turn out the way I thought they would.

This movie isn't perfect. It seems to drag just a little bit at certain places, but not enough to make the movie not worth it. On the other hand, this allows for a lot of characterization and a sense of dreaminess. Also, the story is nothing revolutionary-- we've seen bits and pieces of this from other movies from the same genre. However, The Machinest is good because it adds its own twists to the normal formula, and will probably surprise most people.

The movie is not genre-shattering, and for the most part is similar in a lot of ways to psychological thrillers before it. However, it is dark and brooding, and has a twist of its own at the end. Worth watching.