Bale reportedly lost four-and-a-half stones for the role of Trevor Reznik, an factory-worker whose severe insomnia triggers increasingly harrowing paranoid hallucinations. The weight-loss feat is horribly impressive - easily The Machinist's main point of interest. But it's debatable whether such a minor thriller was really worth such pains. Though striking to look at and well-played by its classy cast (including Anna Massey and Michael Ironside!), Scott Kosar's intriguingly twisty script ultimately fails to deliver the goods. A classic case of ‘all gong and no dinner,' if you like...

Neil Young
11th March, 2005

THE MACHINIST : [6/10] aka El maquinista : Spain 2004 : Brad ANDERSON : 102 mins
seen at UGC cinema, Edinburgh (UK) 21st August 2004 - press show - Edinburgh Film Festival)

click here for Neil's original, longer review of The Machinist from Edinburgh '04

click here for our exclusive interview with The Machinist's director Brad Anderson