"It's Memento meets Fight Club!" the posters proudly announce at every possible oportunity. And they're not half wrong. In terms of being a murder-mystery in reverse with a man who refuses to remember the details, it's very much like Memento. And in terms of being the story of an insomniac who slowly figures out he's lost his mind, it's also a lot like Fight Club. However, while it is a decent and interesting film, it doesn't compare favourable to either them.
The Machinist stars Christian Bale (looking very much like an emaciated Ethan Hawke) as Trevor Reznik (presumably named at the whim of a NIN-loving scriptwriter), a role he famously lost sixty-three pounds for, and boy, they weren't kidding. I can't think of one single actor who has done this sort of damage to himself for a role. So Nick Nolte ate dog food for six months, who cares? This guy seriously looks like he's about to keel over and die. You can see bones in his back that you can't even see in science-class skeletons. It's shocking. And I can't even lose one stone off my belly. How the hell did he do it? And more importantly, why? Did he really read this script and say: "I'll totally become a walking corpse for this gem!"
In a nutshell, it's the story of a man who has lost his mind and is slowly figuring out that not everything he is experiencing is real. In one of the few ways it actually tops Fight Club, it also explores the reason that he's lost his mind (a flaw in my favourite movie that I didn't even think about until now, which is interesting) As you'd imagine, not knowing what was real and what was just being created by your mind would be pretty frustrating to experience- well, it's sometimes pretty frustrating to watch, as well.
I often walk out of movies not entirely sure if I liked them or not. This is usually a good sign and more often than not I later realize that I did like them, or at the very least they got me thinking, which is more than I can say for a lot of films. The Machinist is one of those films. I can definitely report that for at least an hour of the running time, I was not having a pleasant viewing experience. For this hour it felt very much like a David Lynch film- sure there seemed to be symbolism flying all over the place, but I got the sinking feeling it wasn't really tied to anything or heading anywhere.
Fortunately the ending does, in the final analysis, tie all the strings together and answer all the questions, which was something of a relief. So I had to endure an hour of uncomfortable viewing for several pleasing hours of thoughtful musings about all the various ways the pieces fell together- I may even watch it again to make sure. If nothing else, there's layers apon layers of subtle and sometimes not-so-subtle hints and symbols about what is happening to Trevor- there was certainly a lot of satisfaction to be found from the sense that you'd almost figured it out for yourself by the time the film makes it explicit.
I'd recommend it (it should be out on video pretty soon- I only just managed to catch it at the excellent Prince Charles before it left the big screen), but with a caution: it's not always fun to watch.
This is a 
hi,
i found your site through blogging friends, it's really good. only the singer from nine inch nails isn't called trevor reznick, he's called trent reznor. close though.
keep up the good blogging
Yeah DAn, the singer is called TRENT REZNOR. You mgiht want to look that up.
"Did he really read this script and say: "I'll totally become a walking corpse for this gem!"
That's the funniest thing I have heard all day.
Hey, thanks for the kind words.
A quick perusal of the site should assure you that I'm Trent's biggest fan, and would never confuse his name up. I just thought it interesting that if you swap the first half of both names, you get Trevick Reznor. Which is close enough for me to raise a NIN-shaped eyebrow. Given the losing-your-mind narrative of The Downward Spiral, I'd be suprised if the name was merely conincidence.
well, coincidence or not, you should be careful, there's a lot of hardcore nine inch nails fans out there. (like me) pretty hate machine was my favourite album of the 1990s, and i think people with blogs should be more responsible and get their facts right, that's all.
A very groovy and accurate review of the film D! nice one. And I saw it out the other day in Blockbuster...kinda glad we saw it on the big screen though. Hope Christian has had a few pies since the filming of it...
I did get my facts right. Nowhere did I say that NIN's lead singer was called Trevor Reznik. I said the name sounded like it had been coined by a NIN fan. In fact, if you read this interview with the director, you will see that in fact the author DID intentionally name the character:
"Scott, the writer, loves Nine Inch Nails, and his original script had a quote from their lyrics on the first page. He always envisaged it having a Reznor soundtrack too."
dan: i Think You'll Find i DID get my facts right.
newfan: SHOOOOOOOOOOOOOONEYS!!!!
YEAH! how'd you like THEM apples, bee-atch!!
woo hoo!
AAAAAAH!
YOU BITCH! BEEE-ITCH! You've taken this to whole new levels I didn't even dream of.
Revenge may not be swift in the coming, but it will be so, so damned sweet. The sword of Danocles is dangling over your head.
I should have clued in when you said Pretty Hate Machine was your favourite album of the 90's. The Downward Spiral is far superior.
Anyway, nicely played. I'll be in the corner, scheming new ways to destroy you.
and i think you'll find pretty hate machine was released in 1989.
and notice i got you back using your earlier shoney's, christian bale, against you - oh, the complexity.
heh heh heh. ahhhhh, the feeling is so good!
Um, what?
Savour it while you can! Soon the savourer will be the, uhm, savoured, and an unsavoury bitterness will descend.
Boh! 90s! That was a clear indicator! I'm losing my touch.
Adrian: unfortunately, Shoney's cannot be explained in a public forum. Everyone reading it would automatically be in the game. That'd be chaos.
Public Forum?
How many people do you think read this thing? :P
Point! Although seriously: On July 7th? 605. That's right, baby. six-oooooh-faive!
I think London blog traffic went up a lot that day in general. Not that I'm taking anything away from your readership spike.
Oh....I thought I had just suddenly gotten more interesting....
July 7th? Oh, that was just me refreshing the page lots. Sorry to get you over excited.