Oscar Worthy: Yes.
Gets the job done: Partially.
Oh Christian Bale, how you scare me so... (in a good way). The first thing worth mentioning about The Machinist is that the man in this film is not your average every-day Bruce Wayne. Bale's unbelievable ability to "become" the character is clearly evident in this smart rendition of the typical psycho-thriller movie. C.B.'s apparent transformation into the body of Trevor Reznik is a remarkable one, albeit very worrisome. At several points throughout the movie, Reznik is scene (get it? scene?) weighing himself; the results of which decrease by three at each iteration with the smallest weight being 119 lbs. Now, you might say "The Dark Knight? Only weighing 119 pounds? Bull shi*." But I guarantee you, by the end of even the very first scene, you'll be saying: "Oooooh. Yeah... 119 sounds right." The sight of such a skinny character actually scared me more than some of the scariest parts of the movie; I cringed every time he fell down because I thought he was going to break in half.
But [most] skinny jokes aside, The Machinist was an incredible way to waste a few hours. Clocking in at a little over an hour and a half of screen time (1:41:47 including credits and opening studio sequences), the film was easy to sit through and told exactly the right amount of story for the time allotted. The haunting performances by an already discussed (but still emaciated) Bale and crew were spot on. Well... for the most part. The carnival scene when Bale interacts with his date's child Nicholas seemed very forced. I couldn't decided whether it was the script or the actors, but the dialogue seemed disingenuous.
The symbolism and cinematography were incredible enough to be characters of their own. Director Brad Anderson's decision to film in an almost black-and-white fashion was superb. The haunting shades within The Machinist allowed just enough color to seep through without being completely void of all color, and sharper tones like red allowed clever juxtaposition against a primarily grey palette. The interesting color choice definitely reflected the chilling tone of the film, and also reminded me of the first season of the TV show House; also filmed in this near-colorless manner. There were also some allusions to hell, primarily within the haunted house sequence of "Route 666." (The name alone should speak for the scene itself).
The plot of The Machinist was not entirely original, but fresh enough to keep me interested. The opening sequence was basically the closing scene, as we see a fatigued and beat-up (and STILL skinny) Bale dumping a body into some sort of body of water. With this Memento-esque opening, the main question on my mind throughout the first third of The Machinist was who the body belonged to. Yet as mysterious things begin to happen to Bale's character (aptly named Reznik, (Butcher in Russian)) larger questions began to form. I won't give away all the plot details for fear of offending someone who hasn't seen the movie yet, but I will say that Bale eventually learns the way of redemption and the closing scene of The Machinist is of rainbows, butterflies and robot unicorns. (Oh yeah, spoiler alert).
Happy Viewing.
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