The Machinist (2004)

“The Machinist” is painful to watch. It’s not the story, another take on a man’s cracking sanity as he muddles hallucinations and reality, and rages. Nor is it the cinematography, all gas station greens and yellowish-whites. It’s Christian Bale. Dude lost 60 pounds to play Trevor Reznik, a severe insomniac who’s watching his weight drop by double digits and his eyes black out. Yes, the visage of his freakish, skeletal body is meant to shock, but it’s also overwhelming. He weighed more in “Empire of the Sun.” At 13. Jennifer Jason Leigh (“eXistenZ”) lowers herself and plays an aging prostitute. The only other woman is an airport waitress. Do screenwriter Scott Kosar and director Brad Anderson know of any other roles for women? The interesting bits come in parsing out how much of Reznik’s world is only in his head, and that I’m still undecided is a good mark. That the movie brings nothing new to the table other than Bale as Twiggy is a swift bad mark. B-