The Machinist (2004)

An industrial worker who hasn't slept in a year begins to doubt his own sanity.

Director:

Brad Anderson

Writer:

Scott Kosar

Stars:

Christian Bale, Jennifer Jason Leigh, Aitana Sánchez-Gijón

7 wins & 15 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Christian Bale	...	Trevor Reznik
Jennifer Jason Leigh	...	Stevie
Aitana Sánchez-Gijón	...	Marie
John Sharian	...	Ivan
Michael Ironside	...	Miller
Lawrence Gilliard Jr.	...	Jackson (as Larry Gilliard)
Reg E. Cathey	...	Jones
Anna Massey	...	Mrs. Shrike
Matthew Romero Moore	...	Nicholas (as Matthew Romero)
Robert Long	...	Supervisor Furman
Colin Stinton	...	Inspector Rogers
Craig Stevenson	...	Tucker
Ferran Lahoz	...	Gonzales
Jeremy Xido	...	Evangelisti
Norman Bell	...	DMV Clerk

Storyline

Trevor Reznik is a machinist in a factory. An extreme case of insomnia has led to him not sleeping in a year, and his body withering away to almost nothing. He has an obsessive compulsion to write himself reminder notes and keep track of his dwindling weight, both scribbled on yellow stickies in his apartment. The only person he lets into his life in an emotional sense is Stevie, a prostitute, although he has an infatuation with Maria, a single mother waitress working in an airport diner. His co-workers don't associate with and mistrust him because of not knowing what is going on in his life that has led to his emaciated physical appearance. A workplace incident further alienates him with his coworkers, and in conjunction with some unfamiliar pieces of paper he finds in his apartment, Trevor believes that someone or some people - probably one or some of his coworkers - are out to get him, using a phantom employee named Ivan as their front. As Trevor goes on a search for evidence as to...

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Plot Keywords:

hallucination | mental breakdown | insomnia | single mother | waitress | 

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Taglines:

How do you wake up from a nightmare, if you're not asleep?

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Genres:

Drama | Thriller

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated R for violence and disturbing images, sexuality and language

Details

Country:

Spain France UK USA

Language:

English Spanish

Release Date:

3 December 2004 (USA)

Also Known As:

El maquinista

Filming Locations:

Hospital del Torax. Terrassa. Barcelona, Spain

Box Office

Budget:

$5,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend USA:

$64,661, 24 October 2004, Limited Release

Gross USA:

$1,082,715, 7 April 2005

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$8,203,235, 31 December 2006

Company Credits

Production Co:

Filmax Group, Castelao Producciones, Canal+ España

Technical Specs

Runtime:

101 min 94 min (TV)

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital DTS

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Because the film was shot almost entirely on location in Barcelona, Spain, the production designers had to painstakingly re-create the look and feel of Los Angeles with many "everyday Americana" items in both interior AND exterior shoots. This included cigarettes, alcohol, street signs, traffic signals, public telephones, retail signage, automobiles, license plates, and also shooting in what writer Scott Kosar called "some of the worst areas of Barcelona".

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Goofs

When playing "Hangman," a part of the body is drawn only after a wrong letter has been guessed; in the movie, Trevor draws a body part before filling in a letter.

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Quotes

[first lines]
Ivan: Who are you?

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Connections

Referenced in Chris Stuckmann Movie Reviews: Complete Blu-Ray Collection (2014)

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Soundtracks

After Hours
Written by Tommy Carter
(c) British Audio Cathalogue
Authorised by Konga Music, S.L., exclusive subpublisher for Spain
All rights reserved

User Reviews

Dostoyevsky and The Machinist

I really enjoyed this film. It reminded me of 21 Grams, Jacob's Ladder and Memento. Perhaps the finale left a few questions unanswered or felt a little anti-climactic but an amazing performance by Christian Bale. Haunted, brave, vulnerable, murderous but also very moving. A film which stays with you.

Now, here's an eggheaded thing, but did anyone notice the constant stream of Dostoyevsky references in the movie? Not only did Resnick (remind anyone of Raskolnikov?) put down a copy of Dostoyevsky's The Idiot at one point but the whole movie owed a lot to Notes From The Underground, Crime And Punishment and The Double. Did anyone spot the sign in the Ghost Train sequence which read Crime And Punishment? Or that Sharian's character is called Ivan (cf The Brothers Karamazov - especially the chapter Ivan's Dream)? Jennifer Jason Leigh's character is very familiar from Dostoyevsky, as was the saintly Maria.

Its a cracking film and none of these references are indispensable to enjoying it but I thought I would point it out.