The physicality of acting

Watched The Machinist this weekend, which turned out to be a really fascinating movie.

Christian Bale, who I've never been overly impressed with, impressed me in this movie, both through his acting, and the body changes he went through to do it. IMDB has some great copies of the stills: here and here that show what he looked like throughout the majority of the movie. They are downright creepy, as they are in the movie. I've never seen anyone in person look this bad - the friend with anorexia didn't even look this emaciated - and only ever seen images of people suffering from AIDS or Holocaust survivors looking this thin. I'm amazed at the body-modifying lengths Bale went to for this role (the scoop is that he lost 60 odd pounds for the role).

What impressed me even more than the body modification is the changes the character goes through within the story, changes that Bale pulls off expertly. At times, Trevor Reznik is a lovable, sensitive, humorous guy, and you can understand why the women in the movie like to talk to him. At other times, when the sleep deprivation seems to be at its height, he is the creepy kind of guy that you definitely do not want to meet in a back alley. His rage and paranoia are one thing, but when he's in the factory and at other key moments in the story, he looks downright malevolent. And then in the next scene he's this cute guy who'd you'd like to date (even if it's just once) to get to know him.

I'd never heard of this movie before it was a trailer for another (relatively) obscure movie that I watched recently, but I don't understand why. The storyline makes you think, makes you guess, confuses you, delights you, while mesmerizing you as you watch Bale interacting with the other characters (including Jennifer Jason Leigh's good performance as well). If you get the chance, I would recommend you watch this movie.