Movie Haiku - The Machinist & Constantine

The Machinist
Dir: Brad Anderson
Cast: Christian Bale, Jennifer Jason Leigh, Michael Ironside, John Sharian

Walking skeleton
he has not slept for a year
who writes post-it notes?

I was lucky enough to attend a preview screening of The Machinist six months ago and I'm pleased to see that it's finally been given a proper cinema release here in the UK. The plot centres around factory worker Trevor Reznick (Bale), a man with chronic insomnia and a gaunt appearance that is frankly disturbing. But that's the point - this man is disturbed, but by what? There's a lot of questions to be answered. Who keeps leaving the cryptic post-it notes around his flat? Just what exactly is leaking from the freezer? And who is the mysterious bald chap who keeps appearing to guide Reznick on his journey of discovery? To be honest, with the glut of twisty thrillers we've had recently you'll probably have this one all figured out well before the end credits roll. But don't let that put you off, this film is worth seeing for many reasons. There's been a lot of talk about Christian Bale and how he lost nearly 60 pounds in weight to play this role - he really does look like a walking skeleton and his performance here is outstanding. He's ably supported by Leigh in another un-flashy role (as Reznick's hooker friend) and Ironside, as an unfortunate victim of a machinery / flesh interface... he must be getting a feeling of deja vu as he's now lost an arm in the last three films I've seen him in! Director Anderson (who also made the underrated Session 9) does a steady job too, creating a moody piece of work by washing the colour right out of the picture. Highly recommended.

soulmining rating: ****

Constantine
Dir: Francis Lawrence
Cast: Keanu Reeves, Rachel Weisz, Tilda Swinton, Djimon Hounsou

He died and saw Hell
comic book mumbo-jumbo
but with cool effects

Here we go with yet another comic book adaptation and my expectations are duly lowered accordingly. This time it's the turn of Hellblazer, but I've never read the source material so the fact that many things have changed from comic to screen mean little to me. The story centres around Constantine (Reeves) who tried to commit suicide, took a trip into Hell, and is now back on terra firma keeping the demons at bay in an attempt to be granted access to Heaven. Or something along those lines, you know how it is with these comic book stories. To be honest, most of the plot just washed straight over my head, but thankfully it was directed with such gusto that it dragged me along for the ride regardless. These days I tend to get really frustrated with special effects-heavy films, but here the action scenes and other-wordly creatures are created with real flair and I was actually very impressed for a change. The acting however is hit and miss; unlike Hellboy which got it spot on, the central casting of Constantine is all wrong. Reeves is a vacant shell walking through this movie and just doesn't bring enough grit to his character. Weisz, as a cop investigating the apparent suicide of her twin sister, is never entirely convincing either. Constantine's sidekick Chas should never even made it onto the screen, and the character of Midnight (Hounsou) is sadly underwritten. Fallen angel Gabriel (Swinton) however is fantastic, for the small amount of screen time she has, and there's also a delightful cameo towards the end from Peter Stormare as the suitably deranged Lucifer. A bit of a mixed bag then.

soulmining rating: ***