{image1}A complex plot line is not an easy thing to pull off skillfully. Although Brad Anderson's "The Machinist," starring an alarmingly thin Christian Bale, is by no means perfect, Anderson and screenwriter Scott Kosar have crafted a masterful storyline.
Trevor Reznik (Bale, who we've seen in "Captain Corelli's Mandolin," "Laurel Canyon" and "Velvet Goldmine," to name a few) works as a machinist in a noisy, dangerous shop. And he lives in a city that appears to always be dark, cloudy and ominous.
He lives alone, visits Stevie, a prostitute (Jennifer Jason Leigh), and is getting thinner by the day. He hasn't slept in a year. This makes his job even more dangerous and his existence even more dreadful.
And he's losing weight at an astonishing rate. How much longer can he survive like this? Why is this happening?
We follow Trevor at work and out in the world, where he does little besides visit Stevie, and the coffee shop at a local airport where he flirts with the pretty waitress (Aitana Sanchez-Gijon), who takes an interest in him.
{image2}But things start to get very weird and very dire for Trevor and at first we can't figure out what's going on, although we suspect his loss of sleep and weight are tied to his rapidly disintegrating sanity. He can't figure it out, either, and begins a quest to uncover the truth. But can he handle what he finds?
The film's producers claim that Bale lost more than 60 pounds during the course of the filming and it's not hard to believe, especially when we see flashback scenes depicting the actor at his normal weight.
Despite the occasionally painful dialogue and some dreadfully amateurish symbolism -- the film, unnecessarily, often tries hard to create a classic noir vibe -- the script is the star here, even though Bale, Leigh and Sanchez-Gijon serve up fine performances. We don't want to spoil anything, so we'll just say that everything becomes crystal clear in the end, if you can survive the heaviness that long.
Be forewarned that this is a dark and often disturbing film and if you're looking for light-hearted entertainment, "The Machinist" with its stark imagery and black pall is not the film for you.
"The Machinist" opens Friday, Dec. 10 at Landmark's Oriental Theatre.
Born in Brooklyn, N.Y., where he lived until he was 17, Bobby received his BA-Mass Communications from UWM in 1989 and has lived in Walker's Point, Bay View, Enderis Park, South Milwaukee and on the East Side.
He has published three non-fiction books in Italy – including one about an event in Milwaukee history, which was published in the U.S. in autumn 2010. Four more books, all about Milwaukee, have been published by The History Press.
With his most recent band, The Yell Leaders, Bobby released four LPs and had a songs featured in episodes of TV's "Party of Five" and "Dawson's Creek," and films in Japan, South America and the U.S. The Yell Leaders were named the best unsigned band in their region by VH-1 as part of its Rock Across America 1998 Tour. Most recently, the band contributed tracks to a UK vinyl/CD tribute to the Redskins and collaborated on a track with Italian novelist Enrico Remmert.
He's produced three installments of the "OMCD" series of local music compilations for OnMilwaukee.com and in 2007 produced a CD of Italian music and poetry.
In 2005, he was awarded the City of Asti's (Italy) Journalism Prize for his work focusing on that area. He has also won awards from the Milwaukee Press Club.
He has be heard on 88Nine Radio Milwaukee talking about his "Urban Spelunking" series of stories, in that station's most popular podcast.
