Nickel Tour: The Machinist (2004)

Here's the nickel tour:

I don't know why I had this in my queue. Possibly someone suggested it to me, or I just grabbed it because of its description, or possibly Netflix itself suggested the film. Premise: Christian Bale is a (you guessed it) machinist who hasn't been able to sleep for a year. The character has lost a lot of weight, and Bale looks like a skeleton. According to the IMDb trivia, the man lost some 63 pounds by eating an apple and a can of tuna per day. The movie definitely has a few good weird moments, but I felt the payoff was not worth the setup. It also uses a certain plot twist that seems fairly obvious. Although I won't spoil it overtly, let's just say that Twelve Monkeys and Fight Club both handled the ideas better. I give it a "Slightly let down."


If you like, buy it: