NMR: The Machinist

This was another Christian Bale flick that I decided to check out since I've become such a fan of his. Unfortunately, I cannot heap on the amount of praise that I usually do for his films. This film is notable however for establishing Bale as truly the most masochistic actor out there today. If you're unfamiliar with this film, Bale lost a significant amount of weight to play Trevor Resnik, a man who hasn't slept in a year. Bale is so emaciated in the film, it is often too difficult to look at the screen. As much credit as I give Bale for committing himself to the role and doing a good job at portraying this tortured soul, it made me too uncomfortable for me to truly appreciate it.

Ultimately, that feeling of unease is what causes me to give this film a less than favorable review. However, it should be noted that even if Bale's appearance wasn't a factor, I still found the film to be flawed. It tries to do something creative in the lines of Memento by leaving the audience as much in the dark as the title character about what has actually happened, but I just don't think it's fully achieved what it set out to do. There is a lot of good in this film, but given how difficult it was to watch, I can't rate it very high. Unless you want to be squemish for an hour and a half, I probably wouldn't recommend this film to you. Netflix rating: **