Emaciated Actor of the Week: Christian Bale, The Machinist
"A little guilt goes a long way." -Trevor ReznickThe Machinist tells the story of a sickly human being, Trevor Reznick, who claims to have not slept for one year. He stumbles through life on the cusp of unconsciousness, causing no-one harm. He works in a machine shop, drinks coffee at an airport coffee shop, leaves himself post-it notes to remember to pay bills, and sleeps with Stevie, a prostitute. (Jennifer Jason Leigh)
Times change when Reznick meets another employee, Ivan (John Sharian,) in the work parking lot. Ivan appears out of nowhere and later distracts Reznick on the job; causing an accident that costs one of the other employees an arm, and costs Reznick the shaky trust he had with the other workers. When it's discovered that Ivan is not an employee, and Reznick nearly loses his own arm in another accident, any shred of his sanity is removed. Through this insanity, Reznick's peace eventually can finally be found.
This movie can not be reviewed without discussing the transformation Christian Bale took to star in this movie. Bale reportedly dropped 60 pounds from 180 to 120 by barely eating. While this is shocking to see on screen, it is also distracting. I spent less time admiring the performances and more time thinking, "Holy shit, that's Christian Bale!" And therein lies the problem, it takes a film with a decent plot and makes it seem more important by employing a gimmick.Also, seeing Bale in such a state makes me feel uneasy criticizing the movie because of the personal sacrifice. To contrast this, when Robert De Niro gained 60 pounds in Raging Bull or Vincent D'Onofrio gained 70 pounds for Full Metal Jacket they were not distracting because they were seamless within the movie. Would The Machinist have been a good movie without a skeletal Christian Bale? Yes. Would it have caught my attention so much that I felt the need to write about it? Probably not.
The Good:
- Strong individual performances from Bale, Leigh, and Sharian.
- Effectively blurring reality and Reznick's psychosis.
- Bale's sacrifice for a role he believes in.
- Plot that seems complex cleans up a little too nicely at the end.
- Weight loss pushes character from interesting to gimmick.
- Being able to count every vertebra on Christian Bale's back.