The Machinist
Paramount Pictures (1/1/2003)
Drama
Not In Collection
#526
0*
DVD
101 mins

Christian Bale
Jennifer Jason Leigh
Aitana Sánchez-Gijón
John Sharian
Michael Ironside
Larry Gilliard Jr.
Reg E. Cathey
Anna Massey
Matthew Romero Moore
Robert Long (VII)
Aitana Sanchez-Gijon
Larry Gilliard

Director Brad Anderson
Producer Julio Fernandez
Writer Scott Kosar

As a bleak and chilling mood piece, The Machinist gets under your skin and stays there. Christian Bale threw himself into the title role with such devotion that he shed an alarming 63 pounds to play Trevor Reznik (talk about "starving artist"!), a factory worker who hasn't slept in a year. He's haunted by some mysterious occurrence that turned him into a paranoid husk, sleepwalking a fine line between harsh reality and nightmare fantasy--a state of mind that leaves him looking disturbingly gaunt and skeletal in appearance. (It's no exaggeration to say that Bale resembles a Holocaust survivor from vintage Nazi-camp liberation newsreels.) In a cinematic territory far removed from his 1998 romantic comedy Next Stop Wonderland, director Brad Anderson orchestrates a grimy, nocturnal world of washed-out blues and grays, as Trevor struggles to assemble the clues of his psychological conundrum. With a friendly hooker (Jennifer Jason Leigh) and airport waitress (Aitana Sánchez-Gijón) as his only stable links to sanity, Trevor reaches critical mass and seems ready to implode just as The Machinist reveals its secrets. For those who don't mind a trip to hell with a theremin-laced soundtrack, The Machinist seems primed for long-term status as a cult thriller on the edge. --Jeff Shannon

Edition Details
Audience Rating R (Restricted)
Country USA
Language English
Barcode 097363441441
Region Region 1
Release Date 6/7/2005
Packaging Keep Case
Screen Ratio 2.35:1
Subtitles English
Audio Tracks ENGLISH: Dolby Digital 5.1 [CC]
ENGLISH: Dolby Digital Surround [CC]
Layers Single Side, Single Layer
No. of Discs/Tapes 1

Features
8 Deleted Scenes
The Machinist: Breaking The Rules
Audio Commentary by Director Brad Anderson
Theatrical Trailer
Personal Details
Seen It Yes
Links Amazon US
DVD Empire