The Machinist (Blu-ray) Blu-ray, 2004

Brooding psychological thriller starring Christian Bale, who lost 63 pounds for his part of an insomniac factory worker who hasn't slept for a year and whose every waking moment is a nightmare of confusion, paranoia, anxiety and terror. Ostracised from the other men at the factory, Reznik starts finding threatening notes and begins to fear that someone is trying to kill him. Is his paranoia part of his psychological breakdown, or is it possibly justified?

Brad Anderson’s disturbing and powerful drama is, of course, most famous for the skeletal appearance of a pre-Batman Christian Bale as the paranoid protagonist. The my... more >

Brad Anderson’s disturbing and powerful drama is, of course, most famous for the skeletal appearance of a pre-Batman Christian Bale as the paranoid protagonist. The mystifying narrative is handled with real assurance by Anderson, and if the solution owes more than a little to a much celebrated recent film (which won't be revealed here), that hardly matters. Another influence, of course, is Hitchcock, pointed up in the menacing Bernard Herrmann-style score. < less

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