An insomniac machinist falls into a spiral of delusion and paranoia in Brad Anderson's psychological thriller.
This film has been on my radar for some time, and a part of that was due to it being known as the film that Christian Bale lost an extreme amount of weight for. He was intensely committed to the role of Trevor Reznick, and his gaunt spindly body does convey the character's state of mind and well-being in an effective way.
However, the body transformation shouldn't overshadow Bale's performance as a whole as he's exceptionally good here. He manages to bring to life the beleaguered and paranoid aspects of Reznick's character so well, and he becomes more captivating to watch as the narrative unfolds and his delusion increases.
Speaking of the narrative it always managed to hold my attention, as a level of ambiguity throughout the runtime kept me intrigued. There's always an uncertainty about what is really happening to Reznick, and if he's being truly delusional or if there is some greater plot to drive him insane. This is manifested most acutely with the character Ivan (John Sharian) who plays a key role in driving a lot of Reznick's questions.
It does all come together to an successful conclusion, and screenwriter Scott Kosar should get a lot of credit for making this sort of premise so engaging to watch without losing any steam as it goes along.
In terms of points on a production level the grey colour palette suits the rather dark mood of the film, demonstrating a bleakness to Reznick's life.
The score from Roque Baños is also accomplished, with the panicky, intense and sometimes sinister music relating to Reznick's struggles very effectively. As the film has the feel of a Hitchcockian thriller, the idea was to evoke the scores of Bernard Herrmann, who scored many of Hitchcock's films.
I only really have one complaint, that being that the insomnia element to Reznick's character is a little underplayed, and could have used a few more reference points to integrate it a little more into the story.
Final Verdict
There's a lot to admire in this film, as it's a well-paced psychological thriller that doesn't fall apart under the weight of its own plot developments. I would recommend giving this one a try.
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