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The obscure world of insomnia dilutes the life of protagonist Trevor Reznik (Christian Bale) whose very existence seems to slowly fade into nothingness. His is an existence where sleeplessness, melancholy, and loneliness seem to rule, and his appearance supports this notion that gives the impression of either being a victim of the Nazi concentrations camps, or a dope fiend. It is painful to watch the skinniness of Trevor when he dresses himself or moves around without a shirt. His bones protrude his skin in such a manner that it is almost possible to use him for a skeletal anatomy lesson. Trevor writes down his continual weight loss on small notes that he places on the wall while it becomes possible to see his weight loss. A prostitute named Stevie (Jennifer Jason Leigh) whom he frequently visits even tells him that if he would be any thinner he would not exist. ***

In the opening scene Trevor rolls up a carpet with much difficulty while a pair of feet stick out the end of the carpet. After he has rolled up the carpet Trevor walks up to the window where a close up of him confirms that he has gone through some physical abuse. He drives off to some remote location on the seaside with the carpet in the back of his pickup truck. There he prepares himself to throw the carpet into the sea when a stranger who asks him, “Who are you”, interrupts him. Later at home Trevor washes his hands in bleach while the camera angle from the bedroom reveals a flashlight on the bed. It looks like the flashlight that the stranger might have used a scene earlier. ***

Trevor is a machinist at a small factory. It is a dirty, greasy, and dangerous job, but his foreman does not seem to care when he only continues to urge them to work harder and faster. The camaraderie is close between the workers who frequently play poker together, or tell each other jokes to liven up the atmosphere. However, Trevor always avoids his coworkers even when they ask him to join them for poker, as he always has other plans. His plans consist of three things while struggling with his yearlong insomnia. Trevor frequently visits the call girl Stevie, which was already mentioned, and he spends his late nights at an airport cafeteria to drink coffee and talk to the waitress that works the graveyard shift, but he always leaves at 1:30 AM. The rest of the time he spends at home where he reads and watches TV, as he endures the power of his insomnia. One of the novels that he read is Fyodor Dostoevski's The Idiot. ***

Eventually things begin to catch up with Trevor. It all starts when he meets Ivan (John Sharian) during one of his breaks after a troublesome meeting with his boss. On a later occasion, Ivan distracts him when he is supposed to help one of his coworkers who ends up in a severe accident. Consequently, the plot begin to thicken, as Trevor's coworkers express their contempt for him, Ivan continues to put him in danger, and someone leaves a secret code in form of hangman on his refrigerator. Amidst the hazy consciousness Trevor begin to feel the affects of his sleep deprivation while he also feels that someone is on his tail. The question is who and why is someone following him, as his life begins to get more and more muddled by continuing complex problems. ***

The Machinist presents an intriguing tale where the main character finds himself in a paranoid world and the twilights of insomnia grab his awareness. The director Brad Anderson provides a stunning effort framing several of the scenes in wonderful compositions enhanced with the cinematography by Xavi Giménez and Charlie Jiminez. These three filmmakers succeed in a brilliant way to capture the perception of Trevor, as he finds himself in a complicated situation. Another captivating facet of the film emerges through the mise-en-scene, which offers much detail to what takes place in the story. Lastly, the performance by Christian Bale is tremendous who went through a rough diet to perform the part, as he lost some 60 pounds. Altogether, the Machinist will keep the audience in thoughts while the ominous world of Trevor comes into sight, which will leave them thinking for some time after the film. *** ---

The Machinist has a dark shade in combination with terrific hues of dark colors and bluish filters throughout the film, which enhance the threatening atmosphere. There is some grain visible, but the film stock used purposely has this in order to create a realistic milieu. The overall transfer comes with a crisp image presented in anamorphic widescreen, which has the original aspect ratio 2.35:1. ***

The audio pushes through the speakers with either Dolby Digital 5.1 or Dolby Digital 2.0 Surround. However, the Machinist has minimal sound, and when sound oozes through the speakers the audience will hear clear sound without any distortions. The sound from the machines in the film provides the auditory highlights, as all 5 speakers get tested. *** ---

The Machinist comes with a few extras includes a documentary, deleted scenes, and some trailers. The 25-minute long documentary Machinist: Breaking the Rules provides a perceptive view from the perspective of the filmmakers and cast in regards to how they approached the making of the film. There is information in regards to Christian Bale and how he lost his weight for the film and the Spanish producers trust in Brad Anderson’s filmmaking skills. It is an informative and detailed documentary that gives a good view of the making of the film and it is definitely worth a viewing. There are also a total of eight deleted and altered scenes where two scenes offer the option of commentary. Finally, there is also a theatrical trailer and four previews of other films such as Mean Creek and Schultze Gets the Blues. ***