The Machinist

That movie where Christian Bale emaciated himself for the role of a machine shop operator named Trevor who's been struggling with insomnia for a year. He doesn't know why he can't get any sleep, and each time it looks like he's close, something wakes him up. He has two people he confides in, a sex worker named Sheila and the waitress at an airport diner. Sheila harbors hopes of maybe having a domestic life with Trevor, while the waitress is a single mom, just like Trevor's mother was.

Trevor unravels increasingly fast over the course of the movie. He makes a mistake, costing a coworker a limb and gets paranoid the other guys are out for revenge. He's sure there's a mysterious coworker named Ivan everyone insists doesn't exist. Someone leaves a post-it note on his fridge. He keeps forgetting to pay his utilities bill, even though he's always on time with his rent.

It took me two-thirds of the movie to piece together what was going on, but at a certain point, about the time Trevor lets himself be hit by a car, it becomes pretty clear what the deal is. Which is OK, the movie does some fun stuff with Trevor's perceptions as he gets increasingly shaky and paranoid. I did get irritated with the frequent shots were the camera is looking at Trevor, and then he suddenly spies something over our shoulder. He always leans and cranes his neck like he has to peer around us, and the director seemed to enjoy dragging out the reveal of whatever it was (usually another post-it or Ivan). I don't need to see Christian Bale act confused that much.

In some ways, the movie feels like a bit of a throwback. Mostly in the music cues, which feel very on the nose and a bit like something out of a '60s suspense/thriller film. But also in some of the symbolism, with the left path/right path choices. The contrast between the impeccably clean living of the waitress, or how nice the diner looks, and the dingy, sickly look of all the flourescent lit places. The machine shop, his apartment (until his power is cut off), Sheila's place. The lighting really enhances the sunken cheeks and bony limbs Bale's rocking (seriously, that could not have been healthy for him.) 

Some of the scenes of Bale chasing after Ivan's car in his truck, peering through the windshield while tense music plays, reminded me of Janet Leigh's flight away from the city with the stolen loot in Psycho. Maybe the music, or the tension in Bale as he's staring so doggedly out the windshield while cars rush past going to other way. Where he's chasing, but really he's running away.