The Machinist (2004) on Netflix
Trevor Reznik works a lathe in a factory and has not slept in a year. A strange man follows him, and no one else seems to notice. His coworkers mistrust him.
- Netflix3.5/5
- IMDb7.6/10446,615 votes
- Rotten Tomatoes77%
Trailer
Plot summary
Trevor Reznik has spent a year without sleep, and his body has withered to almost nothing. Reminder notes and a running record of his weight cover yellow stickies around his apartment. At the factory, his coworkers mistrust him. Stevie, a prostitute, is the only person he lets close, though he is drawn to Maria, a single mother who waits tables at the airport diner where he eats. On the floor, an unfamiliar worker named Ivan distracts him; an accident costs a coworker his left arm. No one else at the factory knows of Ivan, and no records list him. Fresh notes keep appearing on his refrigerator, and he believes someone at work is using Ivan as a front against him.
Cast
- Matthew Romero Mooreas Nicholas (as Matthew Romero)
Did you know?!Facts and trivia about The Machinist (2004)
Can contain spoilers, watch the movie first.
- Christian Bale strenuously dieted for over four months prior to filming, as his character needed to look drastically thin. A biography written by his former assistant says his daily diet was "water, an apple and one cup of coffee per day", roughly 55 to 260 calories; he lost 62 lb, down to 120 lb.
- Bale wanted to continue down to 99 lb, but the filmmakers would not allow it due to health concerns. The target weight to which the 6 ft Bale dropped had in fact been intended for a much shorter actor, but Bale insisted on seeing if he could make it anyway.
- At the end of filming Bale was left with just six weeks to regain enough mass to be ready for the screen test for his role in Batman Begins, which he achieved through weightlifting and binging on pizzas and ice cream.
- The name Trevor Reznik is derived from Trent Reznor, the founder and primary creative force behind the industrial rock band Nine Inch Nails, and the original script had Nine Inch Nails lyrics on the first page; other tributes include early press articles describing Reznik as experiencing a "downward spiral".
- Brad Anderson hurt his back during filming and ended up directing much of the film while lying on a gurney.
- Despite its setting in California, the film was shot in its entirety in and around Barcelona, Spain. It was produced by the Fantastic Factory label of Filmax and Castelao Productions.
