An Intense Psychological Thriller

2012-02-12T09:34:00.000-08:00

The Machinist (2004) starring Christian Bale, Jennifer Jason Leigh, and Michael Ironside is an excellent movie. This is a Paramount Classic release, and an thriller-mystery-drama-suspense film that works on every level of intrigue.

This is the story of Trevor, a lathe-operator who is dying of insomnia. Trevor has lost the ability to sleep. In a machine shop, occupational hazards are bad enough under normal circumstances. Yet for Trevor they are multiplied by fatigue.

Slowly he begins to doubt his sanity as bizarre things happen around him at work and at home. Haunted by a deformed co-worker who no one else sees, and daily post it notes appearing on his refrigerator that are indecipherable, he begins to investigate what appears to be a mysterious plot against him, and in the process embroils two women with his madness.

Christian Bales performance is superb in this movie. Everything about this movie works, and will keep you on the edge of your seat.

Roger Ebert gives this 3 our of 4 stars. Internet users rate this very high on all the popular websites. This is a movie you will certainly want to watch again and again. Don't miss it.

The 10th anniversary issue of "Entertainment Weekly" crowned Christian Bale one of the "Top 8 Most Powerful Cult Figures" of the past decade, citing his incredible and legendary cult status on the Internet.

Bale is from the UK, and is one of many foreign actors that has perfected mid-American accent. Others are Guy Pierce, Anthony LaPaglia, and Judy Davis just to name a few.

For the role in "The Machinist", he dropped 63 pounds with only a single vitamin consolation with a nutritionist to guide him. For the most part, he only ate salads and apples, chewed gum, smoked cigarettes, and drank non-fat lattes. By the end of the film Bale weighed approximately 121 pounds.

ANOTHER CHRISTIAN BALE MOVIE

Another very good Christian Bale movie is the 2006 "Rescue Dawn". Based on the book "Escape From Laos", it is reported that the director, Werner Herzog, twisted a lot of the facts about the actual events.

This movie is based on a true story of Dieter Dengler, a fighter pilot in 1965 during the Vietnam War being shot down over Laos and crashing in the jungle. He is arrested by the peasants, tortured, and sent to a POW camp, where he meets five other prisoners, all mentally ill. He becomes close to one of the Duane, and plans an escape, however one is opposed to the plan. When they discover there is no more food due to constant American bombings, they find out that their captors plan on killing them. So Dieter sets his plan in motion. However one of fellow prisoners betrayal splits the group and Dieter and Duane find the jungle is now their prison.

"Red Dawn" also stars Steve Zahn and Jeremy Davies. I found a website that has more facts and video from one of the POW's. Don't miss seeing this. This is a very good movie and is highly rated by Internet reviewers.

I hope you enjoyed my little blog and can tell others about it. All the best.

The Machinist On DVD Starring Christian Bale

An Intense Psychological Thriller