The Machinist

***1/2 – This 2004 film is a solidly above average albeit not extraordinary entry in the genre of movies in which a guy has a traumatic experience and recedes into some sort of bizarre hallucinatory fantasy world as a way of compensating for it. It’s pretty nicely shot, but is for the most part really dark and dismal, which isn’t necessarily bad, but here just adds to the depressing nature of the rest of the aspects of the film, such as the emaciated lead actor, very slow and subdued score and rather grisly subject matter. The story is pretty neat and has a lot to offer the astute viewer, but doesn’t really break any new ground except in the fact that star Christian Bale turned himself into a gaunt skeleton in order to portray a hundred pound insomniac. Apparently he lost like 70 pounds or something in a couple of months in order to play this role and then gained it all back (and more) in order to play Batman. That guy needs to watch out, as that kind of stress is very bad for one’s heart. It does help to explain why he freaked out on the set of “Terminator” though. That kind of diet would make anyone cranky, give him a break.