Barry_Delaney

Trevor Reznik looks as if someone has locked him in a room and starved him for months, maybe years. His face and body tell the story of a man is is deeply emotionally stressed. He has not slept for year and comforts himself continually bedding a hooker who has taken a liking to him. He also sits in an airport café in the middle of the night and flirts with the attractive waitress on duty. He works as a machinist where his workmates and superiors worry as to what has transformed Trevor into a walking corpse. Trevor befriends a colleague at work named Ivan, but as events unfold we learn that Ivan may be a figment of imagination in Trevors tortured mind.

It takes at least 2 viewings of The Machinist to truly appreciate the entire story. The final act of the film ties up every loose end and we understand why Trevor has deteriorated in such an intense manner; But with a second viewing some ambiguous scenes make a lot more sense and bring a bigger sense of foreboding to the atmosphere.

The cinematography of the film does a great job of bringing us into Trevors perspective of the world, the atmosphere is dreary and worn, just like Trevor. There are 2 scenes in the film which explore Trevors inner psyche, one of which is the ride in the amusement park. which is wonderfully shot and show first hand the extent of Trevors guilt and how deep it is buried in his mind.

The main highlight of this movie is Christian Bales performance, he pulled out all the stops to nail the Character of Trevor, losing 60 pounds of a 180 pound frame. He genuinely looks disturbing and it brings so much more realism and authenticity to the plot. Its hard to root for such a sick looking protagonist but Bales charisma keeps us enthralled.

The storyline could be panned because of the overuse of alter egos in movies (fight club, adaptation), but i feel, like with those 2 movies, it is necessary to progress the plot and adds to the dreamlike state that Trevor is imprisoned in, giving a much more deeper meaning to the story. A truly great psychological thriller.

John Mudoch (Rufus Sewell) awakes in a bathtub completely naked, with blood dripping down his forehead, unaware of what is happening, he remembers nothing. In the next room he finds a dead body and a blood stained knife. What follows is john trying to piece together what is happening to him and what he unravels is one of the greatest science fiction stories ever put to film. There is a group called the strangers who have an ability to physically change surroundings of them and the people living in the city, they call this ability "tuning". They soon discover that john also has this ability, which is impossible as it would take a normal human a few lifetimes to gain the ability to "tune". Thats the most i can tell without giving away major plot points.

The movie is set in a 1940ish looking city where detectives are hunting John, along with the mysterious strangers. The tall buildings and the knowledge that the strangers could be anywhere in the city gives a menacing ambiance, heightening the tension in the movie and giving off a great effect on the viewer. The special effects in Dark City are stunning and realistic, especially when certain characters use "tuning".

Rufus Sewell gives a good performance as John Murdoch, though i could'nt help feeling he was holding back somewhat. I could think of a few other actors who could have gave a much better performance but he was generally good.

Kiefer Sunderland as Dr. Daniel Schreber was very good and seemed to have put all of his effort into his character, its quite an unusual role for Sunderland but he pulls it off pretty well.

Another performance worth mentioning is Richard O'Brien as Mr Hand, he gives a genuinely creepy performance as one of the main strangers, i thought i would see him and think crystal maze through all of his scenes but he does a pretty good job of playing a convincing character.

Overall the movie leaves a few unanswered questions, leaving the viewer to conduct their own theories about the outcome of events. I have a good grasp of the story as a whole but some people will find bits and pieces confusing. A great film anyways, i gave it an 8 because it tends to drag in some spots, but the end makes up for all doubts.