The Machinist (Paramount Blu-ray)
Picture:
B+ Sound: B Extras: C Film: B-
Shortly
before packing on the muscle and suiting up for the epic Batman Begins Christian Bale dropped to a staggering low weight to
play Trevor Reznik in Brad Anderson’s psychological thriller The Machinist. The 2004 Spanish made film for the most part
flew under the radar as Bale had yet to be propelled to the level of stardom he
obtained after playing the Dark Knight.
Bale had been in the business for nearly a decade with such great films
as Newsies, Swing Kids, American Psycho,
and Equilibrium but The Machinist, though receiving
generally favorable reviews on release, was far from a blockbuster hit or even
a widely talked about film.
The plot
of The Machinist takes the viewer on
a slow paced, psychological thrill ride as insomniac Trevor Reznik, who hasn’t
slept in one year, is withering away to nothing as is seemingly is his
sanity. After a horrific incident where
a co-worker loses his arm in a machine, Trevor takes the brunt of the blame as
he was distracted by an unfamiliar co-worker named Ivan (John Sharian) at the
time of the incident. Sadly for Trevor,
however, no one else seems to know who the mysterious Ivan is and dismiss
Trevor’s accusations as mindless dribble.
Seemingly only two individuals hold any connection or affection for
Trevor as he has no friends or family and his co-workers have ousted him for
his odd behaviors and emaciated appearance.
One is a prostitute named Stevie (Jennifer Jason Leigh) and the other a
waitress at an airport diner named Maria (Aitana Sanchez-Gijon). Trevor falls into a state of extreme
paranoia, fearing his surroundings and becoming suspect of even the most
insignificant events. After losing his
job following an insensible and irate outburst, Trevor tries to establish a
relationship with Maria; but odd events at an amusement park halt Trevor’s mild
attempt at normalcy. Trevor slips into a
deep, distracted, alienated state as he forgets to pay his electric bill and
begins to follow the mysterious Ivan from place to place. Ivan becomes Trevor’s obsession as he refuses
to anything but reveal his true identity, putting himself in all kinds of harm
along the way.
If
nothing else The Machinist proves
that Christian Bale is extremely dedicated to his craft. The level of mental anguish and physicality
that Bale places in every role is evident here as he forced himself to waste
away to nothing for this role before throwing it all back on and them some to
fill out the Bat Suit for Batman Begins. As a matter of fact he dropped to a
staggering 120lbs for The Machinist before
jumping to 210lbs for Batman (yikes!). The
film is deep, dark, and captivating as it twist and turns through the mental
maze that is one man’s sorrow. The most
shocking aspect of the film is actually watching Bale create this tormented
character; because the scariest part is that there is no movie magic here, Bale
actually embodied this role by dropping to 120lbs and looks to be borderline
dead. The body wasting represents
something that is eating away at Trevor Reznik’s soul; there is no rest or
fulfillment in this tortured being’s life and Bale does an extraordinary job of
portraying that. I just worry for his
health with all those rapid fluctuations in weight…
The
picture and sound do not fully capture the pristine quality that Blu-ray can
offer, but this release is certainly the best the film has ever looked. Whereas both the picture and sound are a tad
gritty and need some work; they nicely balance the film’s intended degree of
grit and grim that was purposely placed throughout, so it is hard to criticize
the film’s artistic vision. The 2.35 X 1
picture is presented in a 1080p/VC-1 transfer that for the most part is very
well done with great depth, a sharp image, and even makes the bleak/colorless
world of Trevor Reznik appear vibrant.
The film seems to have a blue haze throughout, but coupled with deep,
inky blacks the film’s image ‘pops’ consistently on this new Blu-ray. The highly detailed image is only slightly affected
by edge enhancement and whereas it does not ruin the experience it does
contribute to the Blu-ray not being perfect.
The sound is presented in a Dolby True HD 5.1 Surround Sound track that
is crisp throughout with a deep bass and clean dialogue. Most of the sound comes from the front
speakers, but the surrounds are utilized for the emotional and engaging musical
scores.
The
extras include Audio Commentary by Director Brad Anderson, Manifesting the
Machinist featurette (HD), The Machinist: Hiding in Plain Sight featurette
(HD), The Machinist: Breaking the Rules featurette, Deleted Scenes, and the
Theatrical Trailer. The HD featurettes
are new, but besides the audio commentaries most of the features hold little
rewatchable quality.
Overall a
great film that all Christian Bale fans should take the time to watch.
For more
on The Machinist, try our DVD
coverage:
http://www.fulvuedrive-in.com/review/2924/The+Machinist+(2003
- Michael P. Dougherty II
