(101 min, 2004)Director: Brad Anderson
Writer: Scott Kosar
Stars: Christian Bale, Jennifer Jason Leigh and Aitana Sánchez-Gijón
“I am denial guilt and fear
and I control you
I am the prayers of the naive
and I control you
I am the lie that you believe
and I control you”
- “Mr. Self Destruct”, Nine Inch Nails
Trevor Reznik (Christian Bale) is a lathe-operator who suffers from insomnia and hasn't slept in a year. Slowly, he begins to doubt his sanity as increasingly bizarre things start happening at work and at home. Haunted by a deformed co-worker who no one seems to think exists, and an ongoing stream of indecipherable Post-It notes he keeps finding on his fridge, he attempts to investigate what appears to be a mysterious plot against him and, in the process, embroils two women in his madness.
This could have been a great movie, but for me – it's only good. I don't like movies from my own country but when a Polish film dealing with the subject of crime and guilt (“Dług” - “The Debt” in English) tops foreign production – then believe me, it's bad. The movie failed in the crucial thing – the character. Trevor is brilliantly portrayed by Christian Bale, his character is very well developed. But I didn't care about him, at all. Why? I am an empathetic person and I can relate to many things in movies, but seeing an asshole who, out of sheer stupidity, kills a child and then runs away is something I will never (I hope) be able to relate to. I should be sad about what's happening to Trevor – he looks so harmless and sad, but when the truth is revealed I was a bit sorry his arm was rescued in one of the scenes. Killing someone by accident is awful, but understandable. Killing someone because you are not looking at the road while you are driving is not an accident – that kind of stupidity must have been growing for years. No, I definitely can't feel sorry for someone like that.
Writer: Scott Kosar
Stars: Christian Bale, Jennifer Jason Leigh and Aitana Sánchez-Gijón
Nightmares of the guilty.
(spoilers)“I am denial guilt and fear
and I control you
I am the prayers of the naive
and I control you
I am the lie that you believe
and I control you”
- “Mr. Self Destruct”, Nine Inch Nails
Trevor Reznik (Christian Bale) is a lathe-operator who suffers from insomnia and hasn't slept in a year. Slowly, he begins to doubt his sanity as increasingly bizarre things start happening at work and at home. Haunted by a deformed co-worker who no one seems to think exists, and an ongoing stream of indecipherable Post-It notes he keeps finding on his fridge, he attempts to investigate what appears to be a mysterious plot against him and, in the process, embroils two women in his madness.
This could have been a great movie, but for me – it's only good. I don't like movies from my own country but when a Polish film dealing with the subject of crime and guilt (“Dług” - “The Debt” in English) tops foreign production – then believe me, it's bad. The movie failed in the crucial thing – the character. Trevor is brilliantly portrayed by Christian Bale, his character is very well developed. But I didn't care about him, at all. Why? I am an empathetic person and I can relate to many things in movies, but seeing an asshole who, out of sheer stupidity, kills a child and then runs away is something I will never (I hope) be able to relate to. I should be sad about what's happening to Trevor – he looks so harmless and sad, but when the truth is revealed I was a bit sorry his arm was rescued in one of the scenes. Killing someone by accident is awful, but understandable. Killing someone because you are not looking at the road while you are driving is not an accident – that kind of stupidity must have been growing for years. No, I definitely can't feel sorry for someone like that.
